Permission Granted
by Scyphi
Summary: Sequel to Request Denied, Uneeded, Reed's Power Reversal Chamber was placed into the miltary's hands, and was later placed into storage, where it was thought it would be safe. They thought wrong... Please R&R!
1. Double Dare

Summary: Uneeded, Reed's Power Reversal Chamber was placed into the miltary's hands, and was later placed into storage, where it was thought it would be safe. They thought wrong...

Sequel to my fanfic "Request Denied"

Movie based, takes place few months after "Rise of the Silver Surfer", and about two months after "Request Denied"

Rating: K+

Yes, just as I promised when I finished it, I'm writing a sequel to my fanfic "Request Denied", the second most popular fanfic I've ever written. May "Permission Granted" be just as successful. Unlike "Request Denied", which was mostly comedy with some action/adventure thrown in, "Permission Granted" will be mostly action/adventure with some comedy thrown in. If you haven't read "Request Denied" yet, it is recommended that you do, but not required. The nature of the story will most likely summarize "Request Denied's" plot at some point, so...

One more thing. Also do to the nature of the story, "Permission Granted" will not focus on the Fantastic Four at first, and for most of the story, they'll most likely be background characters. They will turn up, just not right away.

Right, think that's everything, so enjoy. :)

* * *

Permission Granted

Chapter 1

Double Dare

"You want to fight me?" Brian asked, mocking the idea, "You? Well, bring it on!"

Emily smirked in reply. "If you insist." she said.

They were in the school yard after class had let out for the day. Emily Sanchez had hoped for a nice, peaceful, walk home, but then the resident eleventh grade bully, Brian Enver, lacking the usual freshmen prey, decided to pick on her. At first Emily naturally ignored the teasing, but her temper quickly escalated to it's boiling point and soon after, boiled over. Brian, thinking he was all high and mighty, refused to back down, so Emily challenged him to a fight, to which he foolishly accepted.

At first, Emily simply stared Brian down, waiting for him to make the first move, as a crowd began to gather to watch. This action quickly revealed how inexperienced a fighter Brian was, for it took him awhile to catch on that Emily wasn't going to charge him or do any kind of movement that Brian could use his larger size and strength to stop.

So, once he came to this conclusion, he let out a yell and charged his female antagonist. Emily held her ground until the last possible moment before she nimbly side-stepped Brian as he charged by, leaving his exposed backside open for the swift kick Emily delivered to it.

This downed Brian instantly, but the bully was quickly back on his feet. He gave Emily one look of surprise before swinging a right hook at Emily. Emily quickly blocked it with her left arm. So Brian swung a left hook, but Emily blocked it too, this time with her right arm. Her left arm now free, Emily quickly swung it at Brian's exposed face, and connected heavily with the bully's right cheek bone.

Dazed, Brain staggered away for a moment, but Emily was still in motion, quickly bringing her leg behind Brian's foot and tripping him. The large teenage boy promptly fell on his back, and before he could get up, Emily plopped herself down onto his belly, one fist ready to swung.

"Give up?" she asked, glared at her opponent.

Not surprisingly, Brian nodded urgently, scared of the threat Emily posed, and ungainly clambered off on all fours once Emily got off of him. Seeing the fight was over, the crowd quickly began going on their way, some stopping long enough to give Emily praise for beating the bully, but ultimately they all left Emily alone, panting heavily.

Or so she first thought.

"You're quite a fighter." a voice behind her suddenly spoke.

Emily turned and came face to face with a skinny teenage boy, slightly taller than herself, and maybe about a year older than herself. She tried to place a name with the boy's face, but failed.

"Yeah," Emily replied the boy's question. "My older brother taught me most of it before he moved out to become an accountant." she paused for a moment, studying the boy. "Do I know you?" she asked.

The boy shook his head, half-smiling. "New kid." he explained. "My name's Jake Berts." he held out his hand for Emily to shake. She took it.

"Emily Sanchez." Emily replied. "You like my fighting, then?"

"Oh yes." Jake replied enthusiastically. "You seem like the kind of person who doesn't stand down from a challenge."

"Nope." Emily said, stooping down to pick up her book bag. "Kind of a problem when it comes to dares, but I've lived."

"Really." Jake asked, looking interested. He didn't comment more on it though, and instead changed the subject. "Well, Emily as chance would have it, I need the aide of someone like you."

"Really?" Emily asked, sounding sarcastic. "What for?"

"You know that military storage facility that sits not far from town?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Know what's in it?"

"No. But the local grape vine says there's aliens in there."

Jake laughed. "No, nothing quite like that is in there."

"How would you know?" Emily asked.

"My Dad works there."

"Oh, so you've gotten in there because of him?"

"Yes, but not as of late." Jake admitted. "Dunno exactly why, but this is where you come in."

"I do?"

"Yes. See, my Dad works on lots of projects and stuff, and I've gotten wind of one in particular that really interests me. However, the problem is that I can't get my Dad to tell me more about it, even though it isn't classified, and I can't get in there to find out for myself. So, I'm resorting to another solution."

"You want to break in?" Emily asked, bewildered, already guessing what Jake was suggesting. When Jake nodded, she added, "Whatever for? This project interests you _that_ much?"

"I'm a very dedicated person." Jake said. "But I need you to break in for me."

Emily frowned at this. "Why me?" she asked.

"Because, I don't have the skills you do that are needed to pull it off." Jake replied. "It'll be simple. The project comes with a computer, all I'd need you to do is to pull off as much information as you can about the project, and it get it back to me."

"It does sound easy enough." Emily thought out loud, thinking the plan through. The facility wasn't a major one, so security was at a minimum. If she could get around the alarms and it's failsafes...

"But why should I do any of this for you?" Emily asked Jake, looking slightly suspicious.

"You don't." Jake said. "You could turn me in, if you wanted."

"I doubt I'd have the evidence to do that."

"Exactly."

Emily thought it through again. This guy was a total stranger to her. How did she know that this wasn't some sort of trap, designed just to get her in trouble? There were some loose ends to Jake's explanation of the situation.

Emily hesitated for a moment. "I don't think so." she finally said, and started to walk off.

Jake had his retort ready. "I dare you." he said, almost humorously.

Emily froze, and her pride forced her to look at the proposal again. It did seem like it be a bit fun. Something straight out of an action movie. And she was confident that, given the right conditions, she could do it. But, still, something wasn't right about all of this.

"I can, on special occasions, turn down ordinary dares." Emily announced, and continued on her way.

"Then I double dare you."

Emily froze again, realizing that Jake figured _her_ out in a hurry. With a sigh, she turned back around. "Then how can I refuse?" she replied.


	2. The Machine

Another day, another chapter. Things will start to connect in this chapter.

Chapter 2

The Machine

Jake did not want to wait in order to conduct the escapade, and he and Emily went straight to the military storage facility in question. Night was falling by the time they arrived. As Emily suspected, it was very empty, and mostly unguarded. Looking at it, she saw it should be even easier than she thought.

The facility was fairly simple in design. All there was to it, were three small buildings shaped like half-cylinders. In one of them was the mysterious device that Jake wanted to know more about. Emily wanted to know more about it, but Jake claimed that if he knew that much about it, what did he need Emily for?

Encircling the three buildings was a large cement pad, so to speak. It was like a parking lot, only it was mostly empty, save for a few boxes of unknown contents, and a parked all-terrain military jeep. Walking around the three buildings in predicable patterns and paths were three guards. Every fifteen minutes or so, they vanished behind the three buildings their patrols took them around, to reappear about five minutes later.

Encircling all of this was a metal chain fence, with barbed wire sitting on top of it. This was the only thing that presented a problem to Emily. How was she going to get around that?

"You probably have a few questions about how your going to get past of these things." Jake suddenly spoke, reading her thoughts as she geared up to do the deed. "Don't worry, I'll handle those things. It'll be easy for you. All you have to do, is get across the open areas unnoticed, and get inside the building closest to us. In there should the be device we're looking for. Most likely the biggest one there."

Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a thumb drive. "The device has a computer with it. Plug this into it and transfer as much of the project data onto it as you can. I don't expect you to get all of it though, it's doubtful the thumb drive has that much memory. But try anyway."

Emily nodded, and took the thumb drive and looked back at the base from their hiding spot near some trees. She caught sight of a security camera, and suddenly had doubts.

"What about the cameras?" she asked, curious.

"Like I said, leave that to me." Jake insisted, and didn't say anything more on the subject. "You ready?"

Emily hesitated, knowing she would probably live to regret this, but her pride wouldn't let her turn down the double dare Jake had given her, so she clamped down on her doubts, determined she can do something like this blindfolded if need be. "Ready." she replied.

Jake nodded and lead the way to a little side gate in the fence, unguarded, but locked by an electric latch. Emily wondered if Jake could get through it, but Jake simply tinkered with it for a moment it was unlocked, and the gate open. Emily gave Jake an odd look, realizing just how much she didn't know about this kid.

"Time's short, Emily." Jake persisted when Emily did not run through the gate right away. "Now is the time to do this."

Emily looked around and saw he was right. Currently, the patrolling guards were no where in sight, all on the other side of the facility. If she was going to get to the building unnoticed, now was indeed the time.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Emily ran through the gate and across the open, cement paved, area that divided the fence from the buildings. She arrived at the right doorway very quickly, and no alarms had gone off. Relieved that what would probably be the hardest part of the mission was over for the moment, she went to the door and turned it's knob, expecting it to be locked.

To her surprise, it was not.

Puzzled, and sensing that maybe this was a little too easy, she pressed on, into the building. It was filled with lots of boxes with odd, cryptic, labels printed on them, but in the very center of the building, the only thing not in a box, was what Emily guessed was Jake's mysterious machine.

The most obvious part of it was the fact that it had a large, metal, chamber connected to a grey, dome-shaped, device. It had two doors with windows in them that were a bit like elevator doors, and hid most of the chamber's interior from view. This did not bother Emily, though, and went straight to the control panel and computer that sat nearby.

Finding the on switch and flipping it, Emily looked around, and found that four cameras were looking in her direction. At first, she grew alarmed, but then saw that all of the cameras were turned off. Emily frowned. When Jake said that he would take care of it, this wasn't what she had in mind. How did he turn them all off?

The computer suddenly bleeped, announcing that it had finished booting up, and drew Emily's attention to it. Doing as she was told, Emily stuck the thumb drive into the USB port and began copying all the files she could find on the computer onto it. The files were very large, and it turned out she could only fit three on the small by comparison thumb drive. Hoping that would be enough to please Jake, she turned to leave.

That was when everything went wrong.

Multiple alarms went off, and before Emily could react, she heard footsteps coming her way. Knowing that she was in deep trouble now, she looked for a hiding spot, but only saw one.

The chamber.

Flipping a switch that would open the doors, Emily waited for the automated doors to slowly slid open, and clambered into the small chamber within. She then pulled a penny from her pocket and flipped it at the switch that would close the doors. She hit it first try, and the doors closed, effectively hiding her from view.

A long pause followed, in which a group of guards marched by, looking for the intruder. Not finding one, they moved on. Once they were gone, a switch on the control panel suddenly flipped on it's own accord.

Emily started to sense that something else was wrong when she became aware of a low hum, and then the lights in the chamber suddenly flared on, nearly blinding her. The intensity of those lights only grew from there, making Emily squeeze her eyes shut, feeling the burning heat the lights were producing. She then felt something swirling around and around her, followed by a dull ache covering her entire body. She groaned under the pain and stress, almost collapsing to her knees. The lights began to flash, nearly overwhelming her.

And then, as abruptly began, it ended. The doors slid open slowly, just in time for Emily to collapse from the shock of strain suddenly vanishing, landing hard on the steps of the machine. She was distantly aware of footsteps sounding her way, but boarding on passing out, she didn't care.

As her vision faded, the last thing Emily saw was a small label on the side of one step, almost hidden from view. She didn't think anything of it then, but she would later.

It said: "Property of Scientist, Reed Richards".


	3. Awakening

A few more connections are made. Making things a little clearer each time. ;)

Chapter 3

Awakening

"...the event was quickly resolved when the Fantastic Four showed up. Using their remarkable abilities, they thwarted the attempted robbery in record time, and no was hurt in the process."

Slowly, Emily began to open her eyes, and the first thing that she saw, was that the voice she was hearing belonged to a nearby TV, which was turned on to a news report. Looking around and taking in the rest of the room, Emily quickly saw that she was in a hospital room.

"Coming up, a list of the top ten most amazing things the Fantastic Four have done, as well as a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at the private lives of the Fantastic Four in a tour of the Baxter Building lead by Johnny Storm, also known as the Human Torch."

Turning her body as her energy supply began to rebuild, Emily looked over to one side of the cot she lay upon and saw her mother sitting, asleep, in a nearby chair. Carefully, Emily leaned over and gently shook her mother.

"Wha..." Emily's mother began to say, but then saw that her daughter was awake, and grinned. "Emily, are you feeling all right? The doctors were very worried, fearing you had lapsed into a coma."

"I feel fine." Emily replied. "In fact, I'd venture so far to say that I'm better than okay." she rubbed the back of her head as she sat up. "What happened?"

"What happened?" her mother repeated. "You snuck into a military storage facility and activated some machine they had there! You're lucky to be alive too, because no one still knows exactly what the machine does. It's been there for about three years now."

"I didn't mean to turn it on!" Emily said in her defense. "I was just looking for a place to hide from the guards that were after me!"

"You shouldn't have been in there to begin with!" her mother said. "Just what _were_ you doing?"

"Some new kid dared me to get a copy of data on that machine just to satisfy his own self-curiosity." Emily explained. She rubbed her eyes. "Boy, do I ever regret it."

"I should hope so." her mother said. "Be thankful that the military aren't going to press any charges, and that the doctors are giving you a clean bill of health."

"I am." Emily assured her.

"Good." her mother replied, then switched gears. "Are you hungry? I can go get you something to eat."

"Please do." Emily requested.

Her mother grinned, planted a quick kiss on Emily's forehead then left to go get the food. While Emily waited, she watched the news report as it finished up with the top-ten list they had allured to and switched to the tour of the Baxter Building they had been advertising. Suddenly, she heard the door to the room close and turned to see Jake Berts standing there.

"You!" Emily exclaimed. "You actually had the nerve to come here?"

"Oh yes." Jake replied. "Because I have some explaining to do."

"I should hope so." Emily muttered as Jake stepped forward.

Hearing the TV, Jake looked at it, frowned at what it was showing. Suddenly, the TV muted itself. Emily blinked in surprise. How did that happen?

"Now," Jake began, sitting himself in a chair. "To start with, you did exactly what I wanted you to do."

"I didn't get that data for you." Emily pointed out.

"I know." Jake said. "Besides, the thumb drive's memory was wiped when the machine was activated. But I never wanted the data to begin with."

"You didn't?" Emily asked, surprised. "Then why did you send me to get it?"

"What I wanted you to do was to get in the machine while it was active." Jake explained. "I couldn't just come up to you and ask you to do that, now could I?"

"You mean you lied?" Emily asked, disgusted.

"Trust me, it's all for a good cause." Jake assured her.

"Not a very obvious one!" Emily said, and brewed in her own bad mood for a moment. "Why did you do it?" she finally asked, her curiosity overruling her conscience.

"It's really because of them." Jake said, and jerked his head towards the TV.

Emily looked over at it. It was showing Johnny Storm revealing to a camera crew the seldom seen lab of Reed Richards. "The Fantastic Four?" Emily asked, puzzled. "How does this fit in with them? I mean, they're over in New York. We're here in New Jersey."

"This has everything to do with them." Jake said. "I've met up with them before."

"You?" Emily asked, now in awe.

"Certainly, but it was an instance that I've lived to regret." Jake looked around , then leaned forward. "To be truthful, I shouldn't even be here, and it's on their order that this is so."

"So, wait, you got busted by them?" Emily asked, finding this funny.

"Yes, and caused me a boatload of trouble." Jake replied. "Forced me to change my own name and have to resort to the situation we find ourselves in right now."

"So you want revenge." Emily guessed.

"In a sense."

"Consequently turning me into a criminal for helping you."

"If you wish to see it that way."

"So you tricked me." Emily concluded, then scowled. "Get out of this room, right now!" she exclaimed. "I don't want anything to do with this! I'm in enough trouble as is!"

To her surprise Jake, bowed his head in a symbol of respecting her wishes. He got up and turned to leave. "This isn't over, Emily." he said. "I want you to remember that."

"I'd rather not." Emily replied curtly. She watched Jake start to leave, but then stopped him. "Wait," she said. "If Jake Berts isn't your real name, then what is it really?"

Jake paused. "By telling you, I'm trusting you to keep a secret." he explained.

"Just so long you leave me out of this." Emily replied.

"We'll see." Jake replied, opening the door. He paused for a moment, then added, "My real name is Jacob Roberts."

And with that, he left.


	4. The Powers That Be

Chapter 4

The Powers That Be

One of the first things Emily did once she was able was to google the name "Jacob Roberts". Surprisingly, though, she found nothing that seemed to relate to the Jacob Roberts she was looking for. This either meant that whatever Jacob was responsible for doing, serious enough that the Fantastic Four somehow got involved, was minor enough that it didn't make big news, hence no one really knew about it, or that Jacob was involved in some major crime that was major enough that it needed to be kept secret.

She was hoping for the first possibility.

She also hoped that Jacob would leave her out of it. And for the next couple of days that followed while she stayed in the hospital for observation, it looked like she'd get her wish, for Jacob did not show up again, and she saw no sign of him. Apparently whatever he planned to do left her out from her on in.

Which, despite her better judgement, made her wonder just what it was Jacob planned to do, and how her running into a machine and accidently getting caught in whatever process it does fit into that plan. She also wondered if there was cause for alarm, particularly for who this alleged plan was directed towards. The Fantastic Four.

Ultimately, however, she decided that maybe it was better she just not worry about it altogether and get on with her life.

And she did.

Three days after the incident at the military storage facility, Emily was released from the hospital, having found absolutely nothing wrong with her, and the day following that, Emily returned to school, like nothing had happened, like she preferred it to be.

But, naturally, something had to go wrong.

Emily began to notice that something was happening when, as she was heading for her first class, she should bump into none other than Brian Enver and his gang. And this time, Brian was playing it safe, having his gang jump on Emily and hold her still so that she could not retaliate.

"Hey, Em." Brian said mockingly. "Do you know I do to people who defeat me?"

"Run away in terror?" Emily asked rhetorically, remembering quite well that was what Brian had been close to doing that particular thing on the day in question.

"No." Brian replied. "I get revenge."

His hand balled up into a fist, and lined up a hit to Emily's cheek up, taking his time to do so, seeing there was no possible way he could miss.

"This will hurt." he assured her. "A lot."

Somehow this did not make Emily feel any better, and began to brace herself for the punch. Brian geared up, again taking his time, then, without warning, swung the punch. Emily squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the impact.

It never came.

Listening to the stunned silence that followed and not liking it, Emily slowly opened her eyes again. Brian was looking down at her, his expression one of pure horror. His fist was in such a position that it told Emily that he did indeed swing the punch. Did he miss, then?

Whatever the case, Emily didn't get to find out, because Brian suddenly ran off. His gang, which was starting to look at Emily worriedly, released her suddenly and also ran off. Emily watched them go, frowning. What caused that to happen?

Eventually, though, as the day wore on, she forgot, and focused more on her studies, particularly the very hard math assignment she got later that day. Deary-eyed, she absentmindedly watched her math teacher explain the impossible assignment in his usual monotonous voice, his chalk squeaking as it wrote.

Emily eyed the chalk, thinking it'd be mildly funny if the chalk just suddenly decided to break. Then, to her surprise, it did. As her teacher went to get another piece of chalk from his desk drawer, Emily forced herself not to laugh out loud at the coincidence. The teacher started writing again...

...only to have the piece of chalk break again...

...immediately after Emily thought of it.

Again Emily thought it was funny, only not so much this time.

She grew puzzled when it happened with the next piece of chalk.

And then worried when it happened with the fourth and final piece of chalk the teacher had.

She went to lunch after that class just a little weirded out.

Like always, she got her lunch and then sat by herself at an empty table, thinking about hr day. Today she focused most particularly on the weird events that had occurred today. First was the incident with Brian. Maybe the bully's nerve simply left him at the last possible moment, or a teacher happened to look their way and Emily simply didn't notice. But then there was the chalk. Maybe simple freak coincidence? Possibly, if it only happened maybe once or twice. But four times _in a row_? How does one explain _that_?

Throughout her thoughts, Emily was twirling her fork in-between her fingers. It was a nervous habit of hers, and quite common. As she had this last thought, she realized that she could no longer feel her fork in her fingers, and looked down at her hand to see where the utensil went.

She was surprised to see that the fork was hovering above her hand in _mid-air!_

Emily gasped and jerked her hand away. Like a switch was thrown, the fork clattered down onto the tabletop. For a long moment, she stared at it, trying to find some reasonable explanation for this.

She found none.

Cautiously, she picked up the fork again, laying it flat against the palm of her hand, envisioning the fork hovering in the air again. As she did, the fork slowly rose upward and began hovering again. Her eyes widening, Emily jerked her hand away again like it was burned, watching the fork clatter to the table again.

Bordering on hyperventilation, she jumped up from the table and exited the lunchroom in a hurry. If what's happened is what she think has happened...

She shook her head. It can't be. There was no way it could've happen. The odds of her having telekinesis were astronomical! She'd be more likely to suddenly fall through the floor...

Then her foot sank right through the floor as she walked, like it wasn't there. With a yelp, Emily started to pull back, only to have her other foot sink through the floor. And it didn't stop there. With nothing holding her feet up, the rest of her body started falling straight through the most-assuredly solid floor until she was falling down into the basement below, staring at the cement floor of the basement as it rushed up towards her.

Emily let out a brief scream of fear, and squeezed her eyes shut to await the impact for the second time that day. And for the second time that day, the impact never came. Once she realized this, she slowly opened her eyes and looked around. To her utter amazement, she was hovering just above the cement floor, suspended by nothing. She was just hovering a half-foot off of the ground.

Awestruck, she decided that today was going to be a very...interesting...day.


	5. The Ties That Bind

Moving on...Fantastic Four are finally starting to slip into the story. :)

Chapter 5

The Ties That Bind

The rest of the school day was uneventful, as was the long walk home. Emily was glad for this, because she didn't want any unwanted attention. But she couldn't shake the feeling of awe. She had what couldn't be described as anything less than superpowers. And if that didn't excite someone, nothing would.

It took her awhile to figure out what caused them to surface, but then she realized there could only be one explanation. The machine, it had to have been. Because everyone agreed the machine must have done something to her, for it nearly sent her into a coma. And then, only days later, she starts showing signs of superpowers.

There couldn't be any other explanation.

Now, the only questions she had left to answer was what exactly her powers were, and what would she do with them now?

She arrived at her home to find it empty. This did not surprise her, for it usually was empty. Her parents both worked days, and she remembered her mom telling her this morning that she was going to be working late today. So she was going to have the house all to herself for a few more hours still, which she wasn't going to complain to.

She needed the privacy to practice using her newfound powers.

Emily stepped up to her bedroom door, reaching out at first to open it. But then she got a better idea. Placing both hands on the door, she began leaning on it, concentrating, hoping that what she was thinking of would actually happen.

Just when she began to think that it wouldn't happen, her hands suddenly sank into the door, passing straight through. With a stumble, Emily walked through her closed door and entered her bedroom. She grinned. Power number one. Phasing through solid matter. In short, she could walk through walls. Like a ghost, or a phantom.

Walking into the middle of her room, she looked around for her next target to use her abilities upon. Spying a book sitting on a shelf, she turned to face it. Again she concentrated upon it, but for different reasons. To help, and because it seemed appropriate, she extended out her hand towards it, as if to summon it to her.

Again, it took a moment for it to happen, but slowly and surely the book slowly lifted off of the shelf, and floated towards her, suspended in mid air. Slowly it lowered itself into her outstretched hand, allowing Emily to grab it.

Again she grinned. Power number two. Telekinesis. The ability to move things with her mind. Useful for getting things from high places, she imagined.

Then, there was one final power she wanted to try that she knew she had. Again taking a position in the middle of the room, and setting the book aside. She took a deep breath, hoping this wasn't going to be a mistake. Then, she jumped up into the air, twisting her body into a back flip.

See, she could do back flips just fine on her own, but the problem was that she could never jump high enough so that she could land it. She always needed an extra spring in her jump, something she could only get by jumping off of something bouncy, like a trampoline. But she was hoping that with her new powers, that would no longer be a problem.

It worked better than she expected. Instead of gravity pulling her back down, she sailed upward and upward, flipping over one full time before seeing what was happening. She kept going up until she smacked face-first into the ceiling of her bedroom. Slowly, she turned herself over and looked back down at her bedroom floor, concentrating on lowering herself slowly back down to safety.

But that didn't work too well either, for she instead suddenly began falling like a rock, only to have her instincts take over and stop her fall at the last possible moment by making her hover a half-foot off the ground, before the hover shut off too and she crashed gently onto the carpeted floor.

Power number three. Flying. But she still needed to practice some.

As Emily picked herself up, she realized that she could have more powers locked away within her, which would be totally cool, in her mind. But what to do with them? She these awesome powers, but what could she do with them? And should she tell her parents about them?

She pondered these things as she wandered back out of her room and to the family computer. Out of habit, she checked her e-mail. She was surprised to find an e-mail in her inbox from an unfamiliar address. Curious, she opened it, and began reading. It read:

"Curious about those newfound abilities? Come to the

abandoned lot down the street from your house, and we'll chat.

-Jacob Roberts"

* * *

Several miles away, Reed Richards was working in his lab, believing he was close to coming up with a new form of energy, one that was perfectly clean and dependable upon. Elsewhere in the Baxter Building, he could her his wife Sue cooking, and a floor below him Ben and Johnny battling it out on Johnny's new Nintendo Wii.

All as well with the Fantastic Four, the way Reed liked it to be.

But naturally, it wasn't to last, and the phone ringing on his desk quickly proved it.

"Dr. Richards?" the man on the other end asked when Reed answered the phone.

"Yes." Reed replied, wondering what this was about.

"This is Colonel Grey, from the New Jersey Military Storage Facility Alpha." the man on the other end said. "I have a question for you."

"Yes, go ahead." Reed answered.

"You're the man who has a device down here in storage for about two years now, correct?" Grey asked.

"I have a lot of stuff down there from past projects." Reed pointed out. "What's this device's ID number?"

"Uh, it says here ID10943871VDRRF4."

"VDRRF4..." Reed repeated, trying to remember which device he had down there with that ID, looking at it one part at a time. The "F4" was short "Fantastic Four" so the device was made some point after they got their powers. The "RR" was short for his own name, Reed Richards. But it was "VD" that caught him, which was short for "Von Doom." This meant that the device in question was made either just before Victor went bad, or during.

Then, it donned on him. There was only one machine out there that could have that ID.

"What happened?" Reed asked the colonel urgently, sensing that something had gone wrong.

"Nothing really." the colonel said. "We just had a teenager break in here and tried hiding out in this machine of yours when it activated with her inside. She's okay, but no one here knew what this thing does, so that's why we're calling you."

"So she's okay, then." Reed asked, just to double check, glad the machine didn't kill her.

"Yeah, she sure is." Grey replied. "In fact, she might even be better than okay."

_Of course she'd be better than okay._ Reed thought to himself, planning out his next course of action. _Who wouldn't be once they have superpowers?_


	6. The Facts Stated Thus

Things are starting to pick up now. ;) Spoiler Alert for F4: ROTSS, but other than that, we're good. So, enjoy, and please read and review!

Chapter 6

The Facts Stated Thus

Emily walked to the designated meeting place at the abandoned lot, and as promised, standing there waiting for her was Jacob Roberts.

"You again." she muttered. "You better be ready to give me some answers, some _good _ones, this time."

"I will." Jacob promised, stepping up to her, "but first things first."

He placed his hand on Emily's shoulders and waited, like he expected something to happen. But nothing happened, nothing that Emily noticed, anyway. Eventually Jacob withdrew his hands and looked at them. Then, without warning, threw his arms outstretched. Emily blinked as she saw the lights in the houses up an down the street flicker.

She looked at Jacob oddly. "Did you do that?" she asked, puzzled.

Jacob nodded. "You could say I few a few special talents of my own." he said.

Emily stared at him blankly for a moment. "Wait." she said. "Are you saying that you have superpowers _too_?"

Jacob only grinned, but didn't answer the question. "I'm assuming you tried to find out more about me, correct?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah." Emily said. "But I didn't find anything."

"That's to be expected." Jacob replied, motioning for her to follow him to a more private corner in the lot. "What I did has been kept quite secret."

"What _did_ you do?" Emily asked. "You said that you were busted by the Fantastic Four, but you never said why and for what crimes."

"The reasons I got busted by them was because I embarrassed them." Jacob explained. "And they didn't like that."

"They busted you because they embarrassed you?" Emily repeated, not quite believing the statement.

Jacob nodded. "And spent the next month in jail and another two months in a juvenile correction center." he added.

Emily stared at him in shock. "All that just for _embarrassing_ the Fantastic Four?" she asked, bewildered.

Jacob nodded solemnly. "Tells you a lot about them, doesn't it?" he said rhetorically. "They may have superpowers, but they're no heroes. They're only in this for the popularity and the media, and the attention. The hero work you see them do is only a guarantee that they keep getting all of this."

Emily shook her head, stunned. "I don't believe this." she muttered.

"Neither did I at first." Jacob assured her. "But then I did a little bit of researching on the Fantastic Four, going to the...non-media...sources, and found out some very interesting things. You remember a few months ago, almost a year ago, when a so-called "cosmic storm" almost collided with Earth?"

"Yeah, it was all over the news." Emily said. "They said the Fantastic Four stopped it."

"Not true." Jacob said. "It wasn't a cosmic storm. It was a alien life form, a big one, one that fed off of thermal energy...and organic energy."

Emily's eyes widened. "You mean that it _ate_ life?" she asked. "And it nearly _succeeded?_"

"Oh, and that's not even the best part." Jacob said. "None of the Fantastic Four did anything to stop it. Instead, the life form was beaten by _another_ alien, who died in the process."

Emily was stunned again. "Whoa." she said. "I...I never thought the Fantastic Four were like that."

Jacob nodded. "You had gotten caught up in the image they created on the media." he said. "I did too, for awhile. And then I eventually saw the truth." he turned to face her entirely. "My goal now is to reveal the Fantastic Four as the frauds they are. And you and I are the ones who can do it."

Emily stared at her feet, unsure. "I'll need time to think this through." she told him.

"Take as much time as you need." Jacob said. "I'll be waiting."

And with that, he walked off and vanished into the fading light as the sun set.

* * *

Emily walked back home and entered a still empty house. Frowning, she sat down in a chair, to try and sift through everything Jacob had told her. But she hadn't gotten far before the doorbell rang. Getting up, Emily opened the door to find a slender blond woman in a brown overcoat standing there.

"Are you Emily Sanchez?" she asked.

"Yes..." Emil replied hesitantly.

"Hi, I'm Sue Richards." the woman said, holding out her hand for Emily to shake, clearly trying to be polite. "Better known as the Invisible Woman, from the Fantastic Four."

Emily suddenly felt her stomach sink.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" Sue went on the ask.

Emily numbly nodded.

"We heard recently that you had a little mishap with one of my husband's machines." Sue said. "I just came to make sure you were alright, because that machine can be lethal."

"I'm fine." Emily replied.

"You haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, have you?" Sue asked.

"No, nothing unusual." Emily lied, knowing that superpowers very much applied to that.

Sue gave her an odd look, and for a moment, Emily wondered if she was going to press the question. But she didn't.

"Well, again, I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Sue said. "Hopefully we can work to avoid another such situation again."

_She knows..._ Emily's conscience whispered, but Emily ignored it. "Well, good luck with that." she said.

"Thank you for your time." Sue said politely, and then walked off.

Sue walked for some distance, until she was well out of sight of the Sanchez house. It was then that the Fantasticar dropped down from above and came to hover next to Sue, with Reed at the wheel.

"Well?" Reed asked, as Sue climbed in. "Did you find out anything?"

"No." Sue answered, as they took off again. "But I can assure you Reed, she has superpowers." she watched the neighborhood shrink as they gained altitude. "The question is if she doesn't know it yet, or she's lying..."


	7. Reasoning

A bit longer chapter than usual, but 'twas needed. Enjoy:)

Chapter 7

Reasoning

The following day, as Emily walked home, she wasn't surprised to be silently joined by Jacob, who seemed to get around quite easily. Emily decided not to ask about it, and of the choices she had been faced with as of late, that seemed to be the only decision she had actually made as of late.

She had a lot to think about. About her newfound abilities, what to do with them, about what Jacob had told her, and whether or not she wanted to help him, or just stay out of it. It didn't help either that just when she thought she might have a solution, she'd think of some overlooked aspect of it and have to start over. It was keeping her from making any real action, action she felt complied to do.

Jacob did not say anything, and Emily knew why. He had said his bit, now it was her turn to say hers. He was only here in case Emily had made her choice. And she hadn't. And part of that was the fact that she was still a little leery of Jacob, for there was a good deal that she just didn't know about him. Particularly one certain aspect.

"Jacob," she finally began as they walked. "Be truthful to me. You have superpowers too, don't you?"

Jacob gave her a glance. "Perceptive, aren't you?" he said.

"Well, you avoided the same question last night, making me suspect that you did." Emily said. "Besides, you have left some clues."

"That I have." Jacob said.

"So you really do have powers then."

"Yep."

"So what are they?"

"I'm a techno-path."

"A techno-what?"

"That's the name that's been dubbed for it." Jacob explained. "It's like telekinesis, only limited to technology."

"That doesn't sound like much of a power." Emily remarked.

"That's where you're wrong, as the Fantastic Four well know." Jacob said, then added, "It's actually pretty useful at times, especially when you can't find the remote control to the TV."

"I can imagine." Emily said. She paused. "You sound like you're really fond of your powers."

"Of course, they make me what I am." Jacob said. "Aren't you?"

Emily shrugged. "I used to be thrilled I have powers now." she admitted. "But now the novelty has worn off, not to mention this whole deal you've brought up to add on top of it. Now I'm not so sure. Now that I think about it, I don't really know what I want to do with them. I'm not even sure if I _want_ them anymore."

"You can do some great good with those powers." Jacob pointed out.

"Or some great evil." Emily pointed out. "These powers can easily be misused, and if you're right about the Fantastic Four, that's proof of it." She shook her head. "I wish I could get a second opinion."

Jacob suddenly stopped. "Maybe you can." he said thoughtfully.

* * *

"How's a doctor going to help?" Emily asked skeptically as they approached a doctor's office Emily had never heard of until today. Jacob claimed it was top of the line, though.

"This is where I first went when I discovered my powers." Jacob said. "And it's really because of him that I became what I am."

"How so?" Emily asked.

"Simple." Jacob said. "He said that I should stop using them, and work to find a way to get rid of them."

"You obviously didn't do that." Emily noted.

"And now you'll find out why." Jacob said, as they entered the office.

A lonely male receptionist looked up from his desk as they entered. "May I help you?" he asked.

"Yes." Jacob said, taking control of the conversation. "Is Dr. Vonassin in? My friend would like a word with him."

"He is." the receptionist replied. "In fact, he's available at the moment. You may go see him now." he pointed at a nearby door.

Jacob led Emily to it, who hesitated. "What do I tell him?"

"Explain the situation up to the point you got your powers." Jacob explained. "Then, show him what they are as best as you can. He'll do the rest." He gave Emily an encouraging smile, but it seemed false.

Emily took a deep breath, then walked inside. The room clearly wasn't what she expected it to be. It was quite finely furnished, with leather chairs, a intricately carved desk, a fireplace, wood paneling, and soft, brown, carpet. Not at all the sterile, barren, doctor's office she expected. This seemed to be more of a rich man's personal study than a doctor's office. She wondered if this was a psychiatric doctor, instead of the medical doctor she had been expecting.

And speaking of the doctor, he was waiting for her when she entered. He also wasn't what she was expected. He was tall, muscular, with short, dark hair. The small lines on his face said that he was maybe forty or older, but other than that, he looked far younger than that. He also wore a smile that, like Jacob's, seemed oddly false.

"You must be Jacob's friend." he said, holding out a hand. "I'm Dr. Vonassin."

"Emily Sanchez." Emily replied, ignoring the fact that the doctor knew who had brought her here.

"Please, have a seat." Vonassin said, sitting in one chair, while Emily sat in another. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story, really." Emily said.

"Start from the beginning." Vonassin asked.

So Emily did, and told her story in it's entirety, leaving out only the points involving Jacob and her encounter with Sue Richards the previous day, which she hadn't even told Jacob about. And then he showed Vonassin her telekinesis powers, the one she could control the best, by making various items in the room float harmlessly around.

Finally, Vonassin looked impressed. "I can see why it was Jacob that brought you in. He had a similar situation to yourself. He's since told me that he's corrected it."

"Yeah, I, uh, heard about that." she lied, sensing that Jacob would've preferred it that way. "What do you recommend?"

"That you do that same."

"Huh?"

"These powers can be dangerous." Vonassin explained, standing and beginning to pace. "Not to mention that the many tests I conducted on Jacob show that these powers are not natural, and will probably end up doing the body much harm."

"I feel fine." Emily stated, finding this fact hard to believe.

"That's what Jacob said." Vonassin said. "But the risk is simply too great. These powers _must_ go."

"But.." Emily stuttered, finding it hard to believe she was being told this, even though Jacob had indicated that she would. "What about the Fantastic Four? They've got superpowers."

"They're different." Vonassin stated. "They have a doctor in their midst who can constantly make sure that they stay healthy. Not to mention that they are adults."

"So, I can't have superpowers, just because I'm not old enough." Emily summarized.

"Exactly."

"This is ridiculous." Emily stated, getting up to leave.

"You'd better heed my warning, Ms. Sanchez." Vonassin said, in a warning tone. "You'll live to regret it if you don't. Superpowers are very much abnormal, and they cannot be accepted into our world."

Emily paused at the door, then turned back to face the doctor. "Being different isn't a bad thing." she said.

"Not this different." Vonassin persisted. "Abnormal people like you are the kind of people who become social outcasts in our world. If you do not find a way to get rid of those powers, you will never have a place in your life."

Emily fumed for a moment, then relented. "Fine." she said. "I will."

And then she walked out of the door, and kept going until she was out of the building all together, Jacob hurrying to keep up.

"I don't like that guy." she told him as she marched.

"Gets on your nerves, doesn't he?" Jacob asked understandingly.

Emily grabbed his arm and halting him. "He's wrong." she said. "And I'm going to prove it. Jacob, I'm with you in this now. What do I need to do?"

Jacob grinned. "Get your things together." he said. "We're going to New York."

Emily nodded understandingly, then walked off. Jacob watched her go. A few moments later, Vonassin walked out of his office and joined him.

"I must congratulate you, Jacob." the "doctor" said. "Everything is going according to plan."

"Yes." Jacob said, grinning broadly. "Yes it is."


	8. Planning Ahead

We've reached the point in the story that the Fantastic Four are going to start making more appearances, so you may celebrate now. :D We're building up to some action as well, so be looking out for that in the next chapter or so. ;)

Chapter 8

Planning Ahead

"So remind me why we've got this thing here again?" Johnny asked, while sipping a soda.

Reed looked down from where he worked. "I just told you why." he said. "Twice."

"I know." Johnny replied. "But I wasn't paying attention either time. You kinda have speciality with that."

"So who says you're going to listen this time around?" Reed asked, climbing down from his perch to get another tool.

"Because now my curiosity is really, _really_, sparked." Johnny said.

Reed sighed, and leaned against one side of the power-reversal machine. "Okay, fine." he said. "I've had the power-reversal machine brought out of storage and shipped up here to the Baxter Building, because a few days ago, a teenage girl broke into the facility it was being held at, and accidently used it on herself. We know that on it's own that it can't gain enough power to actually reverse a superpower, and instead enhances it. Since the girl didn't have powers before hand, it's possible that she does now."

"Not possible, Reed." Sue said, entering the lab. "It's a forgone conclusion. I _know_ she has powers."

"And you know this...how?" Johnny asked.

"I could sense it." Sue replied her brother hotly. "Don't ask how I know, I just do."

"The question that remains, however, is whether or not the girl knows she has powers too." Johnny said. "I remember that part the last time you told it, Reed."

"Exactly." Reed said. "But whatever the case, we need to find a way to undo her powers, and the only way to do that is with the power-reversal machine." he tapped the metal side of the chamber.

"But you just said it doesn't work." Johnny said.

"That's why it's here." Reed said. "So I can fix that, to use on the girl, whether she knows she has powers or not."

"Well, what if she wants to keep them?" Johnny asked. "We all did, why not her?"

"That would be her choice." Sue said. "But she hasn't said anything to state that is her wish."

"Wait," Johnny said, setting his soda aside for a moment. "So you've actually talked to this girl?"

"Yeah, Sue talked with her the other day." Reed said, climbing back up the ladder to the machine's top. "She didn't say anything about her powers in that conversation."

"Which is what worries me." Sue said. "What if she's lying, and she really does know that she has powers, and what they are exactly?"

Johnny frowned, picking up his soda again to sip. "Why would she do that?" he asked.

"Well, maybe she has plans similar to a certain fifteen-year-old boy we met up with a few months ago." Reed pointed out almost tauntingly, working some kind of tool.

Johnny's frown broadened and turned slightly red. "I thought we agreed to never talk about that incident again?" he called up to Reed.

"There's a lesson to be learned from that run-in with young Jacob Roberts, though." Reed continued regardless. "A couple of them actually. First, there's..."

"So how does this girl look?" Johnny asked Sue, changing the subject. "Is she the kind of girl _I'd _like or..."

"Sorry Johnny, she's too young for you." Sue said with a smirk, and exited the lab.

* * *

Emily had never been to New York City before. In fact, she hadn't ever really been in any major cities before, because they were all too far away. But Jacob had planned this well, and had connections to everything, including transportation, getting them both there quickly and effectively. Upon their arrival, Emily was in awe at the size of New York, realizing just how places there was in one spot that she could visit.

That is, if she had the time.

They had more important things to do. Jacob wanted to get his plan started right away, and he wanted to get settled in as quickly as possible. So upon their arrival, Jacob took Emily down to the subways, which the rode to the street the hotel Jacob had managed to book was, where they were going to stay.

They had separate rooms, but they were right next to each other so that they could reach other easily if need be. Jacob had stressed that once things got rolling and revealed to the Fantastic Four just what they planned to do, this would be important in case of an attack.

They had both taken time to settle in, then went to get something to eat from the nearby McDonalds before meeting back up in Jacob's room to plan out their first move.

"We need to get a few things." Jacob said once the basics were laid out for Emily. "Things that little old me and my connections to the right people can't get. Things that will be very, _very, _expensive."

"So what do we do?" Emily asked.

Jacob told her.

Emily frowned. "I'm not sure I want to swoop down to that level." she said.

"It'll be easy, especially with our powers working together." Jacob said. "Besides, you want to stop the Fantastic Four, right?"

"Yes..."

"And you want to prove Dr. Vonassin wrong, right?"

"Of course."

"Then we have to do this." Jacob said. "I know you don't like the idea of it, and neither do I. But sometimes we have to do things we don't want to for the greater good."

Emily nodded, understanding. "Then let's do it."


	9. Cause For Concern

Okay, here's some action:D

Chapter 9

Cause For Concern

The bank ran smoothly, and that was how it was meant to be in the security guard's opinion. He scanned over the various displays, showing every angle of the bank, and saw everything was going fine. He grinned, glad that this was the maximum of his job.

It had been awhile since someone had tried to rob the bank, and awhile longer still since such a situation was not resolved peacefully. Which meant that it was almost time for it to happen again. But it didn't look like it was going to be today, thankfully, for the bank was about to close for the night.

And then the security cameras suddenly went out.

He blinked in surprise at the static-filled screens the displays now produced. He worked urgently to try and get them working again, but to no avail.

Then his radio began to crackle.

"Alert! We have a hostile in the building!" the guard heard over his radio. "Authorities have been alerted! Requesting back up!"

And then the radio went dead.

Pulling out his sidearm, the guard raced out of the room and to the vault, no doubt where the action was occurring.

And it was. Just not in the manner he was expecting.

Just as he arrived to stand with a line of guards, all with their weapons drawn, he at first saw nothing. But then a figure stepped straight through dividing the inside of the vault from the outside like it wasn't there.

It's was a teenage girl, and she calmly walked across the room carrying several bagfuls of stolen money. The guards stared at her for several moments before over coming their shock.

"Freeze!" one of them exclaimed.

The girl ignored him, continuing on, heading for the far wall of the room.

"Freeze!" the guard exclaimed once more, "Or we'll shoot!"

The girl still ignored him, so the guards fired at her. Only to have the bullets fly straight through the girl, not harming her at all. Again the guards were shocked, but recovered faster this time, by firing another volley of bullets at the girl. Again, they passed right through the girl like she wasn't even there.

The girl continued to ignore them until she reached the next wall. Without hesitation, she walked right through it, like a ghost. The guards stared at the wall for several moments. And then the girl returned, again passing through the wall, but this time headed for the guards.

The guards, alarmed, open fired once again. But the bullets only whizzed right through the girl like before. Completely unconcerned, the girl raised up one hand, as if to indicate to the guards that they should stop.

But instead, their guns suddenly flew out of their hands on their own accord, and came to hover in front of the girl. The weapons remained there for several moments, then shot off into the air in various directions, scattering themselves all over the room, out of the immediate reach of the guards. Now very alarmed, they all looked back at the girl, wondering what will happen now, and if it would be a good thing.

Their suspicions that it wouldn't be a good thing proved true.

Mostly for dramatic effect, the girl waved her hand in the air, and suddenly the entire group of guards rose off of the floor to hang in mid air, where they could not interfere anymore. They yelled for a few moments, but it was clear that the girl wasn't going to let them down. Instead, she went back to her first chore, phasing through walls, gathering money from the bank, then carrying them across the room into waiting arms.

"That's the last one." Emily announced as she phased through the wall for the final time and handed her cargo to Jacob, who was waiting outside the bank.

"Good." Jacob said, dropping the bag unceremoniously into the back of a van. "Because they're coming."

"Who's coming?" Emily asked as Jacob closed the van doors.

"The Fantastic Four!" Jacob said urgently. "They could be here at any moment! We need to go, now!"

Emily's ears suddenly detected an odd whirring sound. "Too late." she said, her eyes tracking down the source of the sound. "They're already here."

The Fantasticar began to swoop down towards the bank, unaware that their enemy stood nearby.

"Shoot!" Jacob exclaimed. "Now what?"

"You get the money out of here." Emily said, taking a few steps back. "I'll handle them."

She ran forward the leapt into the air, taking flight. Before Jacob could object, she was already racing towards the Fantasticar. The occupants had been busy surveying the bank below, attempting to figure out the best method to enter, and did not see Emily place herself in the vehicle's path until too late.

Reed attempted to turn away, but not even the Fantasticar could maneuver fast enough. It hit Emily, or, at least, it should have. Instead, it phased right through her, to the surprise of Fantastic Four. Once it had passed clear through her, Emily then used her telekinesis powers to grab hold of the flying vehicle and jerked it roughly, sending it into a flat spin. Reed quickly regained control, but not fast enough to prevent the craft from impacting the roof of the bank.

By that point, however, Emily had her hands full with another matter. Johnny had flamed on and launched himself out of the Fantasticar while it was in mid-spin and raced after Emily. Emily ducked under him, then shot off into the night, a fully flamed Johnny hot on her tail. They zoomed around for a moment until Emily led Johnny into a corner of the city that was surrounded on all sides by skyscrapers. She was able to phase right through them and continue on her path, while Johnny was forced to move around them.

While Johnny was being held up there, Emily raced back to the bank, skimming over the crash-landed Fantasticar to survey the situation. It would not start again, and the remaining three members of the superhero team were stranded for the moment on the roof of the bank. As Emily zoomed overhead, Sue threw up a forcefield to stop her, but Emily merely phased through it.

"Emily, stop!" Reed exclaimed, figuring out who she was. "You don't have to do this!"

"Yes I do!" Emily hollered back, stopping to hover above them. "I know what you guys are really in this for. And it's not for the good of mankind."

"What?" Ben exclaimed.

"The only reason we do what we do is to help make the world a better place." Sue said. "Surely you can see that."

"No, I can't!" Emily hollered back. "Not when there is pretty darn good evidence that you guys are only in this for yourselves, and nothing else! You don't care what happens to anybody, just so long it make you popular!"

"Of course we care what happens to people!" Sue said, trying to find a way to get leverage in this conversation.

"Tell that to Jacob." Emily said.

"Jacob?" Reed repeated, alarmed.

"You four better prepare yourselves." Emily continued darkly. "Because a battle will begin over this. And it's intended for you to lose."

And with that, she began to fly off again. Johnny finally caught up again, and charged her, but Emily simply flicked him aside with her telekinesis, sending the Human Torch hurtling into the bank's skylight. After that, she vanished into the darkness of the night.

Reed raced over to the skylight and peered through it.

"Don't worry, I'm okay!" Johnny called up, having managed to bring himself to a stop, hovering just beneath the ruined skylight. "Man, though, I didn't stand a chance against her!"

Reed shook his head. "None of us did." he admitted, and turned back to look in the direction Emily had zoomed off in. "And it's only just beginning."


	10. Alarmed

Discussion of the events in last chapter. Events in "Request Denied" summarized breifly, and an old running gag from "Request Denied" revived.

Chapter 10

Alarmed

"So I think it's pretty safe to say that this Emily girl was lying about whether or not she knew that she had powers." Ben summed up later at the Baxter Building.

"And does she have powers." Johnny remarked as he sat on a table fiddling with some obscure tool of Reed's. "I mean, she made quick work of both me and the Fantasticar, and probably wouldn't have stopped there had the chance arisen."

"Johnny, it's not a Fantasticar." Reed corrected, as he had been doing annoyingly for the past several months. "That's only the name the media labeled it as. It's really called a..."

"...FHC, right, I know." Johnny muttered automatically. He had heard this several times before. "Which means 'Flight and Hover Craft', and that it wasn't you that came up with the name, but the folks at Dodge who sponsored the project, and you just went along with it." he frowned, before adding, "Still doesn't mean I actually _like _the name. I mean, I thought Dodge came up with better names than..."

"Can we get back on subject here?" Sue interrupted. "Like, what are we going to do about Emily?"

"What I'm more worried about is that she mentioned that Jacob Roberts was somehow involved in this." Johnny said. "And I never want to meet up with _him _again."

"Jacob's not much older than Emily." Reed pointed out. "And it might not be the same Jacob Roberts that we know."

"Reed, the kid stole my powers and used them to wreak havoc on New York while I got all the blame placed on _me_." Johnny said. "He almost got away with it, too! I'm going to be worried over meeting up with him again until you can _prove _to me that he's not involved in this."

"But Jacob can't do all that again." Ben pointed out. "I mean, the power-transfer ability he picked up from the Silver Surfer guy was supposed to have worn off by now, right?"

Reed nodded. "But he would still have his techno-path ability, and he's proven that alone can be quite a threat." he added. "Add that on top of Emily's abilities of telekinesis and phasing through matter and, well..."

"You've got an almost undefeatable enemy." Sue finished.

"So, how did Jacob know that Emily got superpowers?" Johnny asked.

"Actually, I was wondering if it's because of Jacob that Emily even has powers." Ben growled.

"That would not surprise me." Reed said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Jacob is quite intelligent."

"Yes, but the machine that did it was locked away in a military owned, _and _guarded facility." Sue pointed out. "That makes it highly unlikely that Jacob played a hand in Emily's acquisition of powers."

"Not necessarily." Reed interrupted. "Remember, Jacob would have a way around most of that with his techno-path ability."

"Okay, so assuming this is all true and Jacob did get the ball rolling for this whole mess, then how did he know where the power-reversal machine _was?_" Johnny asked.

"He's got a point, Reed." Ben agreed. "That entire project _was_ classified by the military."

Reed pondered it for awhile. "Either Jacob managed to hack into a military computer system, or..." he trailed off.

"Or...what?" Johnny prompted after a moment.

"Or Jacob got the information from another source." Reed concluded, looking grim.

Ben frowned. "But who else would know about the power-reversal machine besides us and the military?" he asked.

* * *

Jacob took the last bag of stolen money from Emily as she hovered down to land on the roof of the abandoned, half-constructed building they had agreed would be their hideout.

"This is all of it, then?" Jacob asked, setting the bag with the rest.

Emily nodded. "Not a dime left in that van." she said, then asked, "Is it enough for our purposes?"

Jacob made a quick calculation in his head. "Most definitely." he replied as the numbers in his head began to exceed the amounts he required. "Now, I need you to dispose of the van. Push it into a river or something, I don't care. Just get rid of it. Make sure it's seen by somebody, too, to give the authorities a false trail."

Emily nodded, and with a hop and a skip, took to the air again, and dropped out of sight. Immediately after she left, a cell phone hidden away in Jacob's pocket rang. He took it out and answered it.

"Go for Jacob." he said calmly.

"Very impressive work at the bank, Jacob." the voice on the other end said. "By my estimates, you got more that you needed."

"Very much so." Jacob replied. "How are things on your end?"

"Good. All I need now is a check for the money."

"That's next on my to-do list." Jacob said, heading to a card table that had been set up. "How much time do we have?"

"Plenty, for the moment." came the reply. "The Fantastic Four do not see what is really happening. Yet. They'll catch on eventually."

"I know." Jacob said, remembering the last time he met up with them. "Which is why we have to hurry."

"Emily banged up the Fantasticar quite well though." the voice said. "It will be out of commission for a couple of days."

"That will only slow them down, not stop them." Jacob pointed out. "And you, of all people, should know that."

"Leave the Fantastic Four to me." the voice said. "I'll hold them up and keep them off your tail until it's too late."

"You'd better." Jacob said.

"Trust me." the voice said. "Besides, we have a bargain. Keep up your end, and I'll keep up mine."

And with that, the call ended.


	11. It's Official

Chapter 11

It's Official

Reed got off of the phone, looking grim. "It's official." he reported to the others. "Jacob Roberts was reporting missing a week ago. No one knows where he is."

Johnny groaned. "I swear, if I see that kid, I'm not holding back." he said to nobody in particular.

Sue began pacing. "So Jacob's the ring leader in this." she said, thinking. "But that's not something we can't handle, right?"

"Says you." Johnny said. "You're not the one who got his powers stolen and blamed for things he didn't do for several days on end."

"That was a mere annoyance, though." Sue pointed out. "In reality, it wasn't something we couldn't handle. I mean, we_ did _defeat him eventually, right? And, now that he's no longer got the power-transfer ability, he should be even easier to handle."

"Don't make that assumption, Sue." Reed interrupted. "There are still a lot of unknowns about Jacob's techno-path ability. I wouldn't underestimate what he can do."

"Well, one thing is clear." Ben said, standing. "Jacob has obviously told Emily something about us that she believes, and has turned her against us. Seems to me, that if we can somehow turn Emily back on our side, Jacob will become even more vulnerable."

Reed nodded. "I already came to that solution." he said. "I called the authorities and asked them to report any sightings they have of Emily. I also have been conducting sensor sweeps of the city, looking for anything that we could use to track her."

"You can do that?" Johnny asked, looking interested.

"If I have the right parameters about the person in question, then yes." Reed said.

"What about Emily's parents?" Sue asked. "Have they been informed about what's going on?"

"Kind of." Reed said. "They know Emily's missing, and that she's on the run here in New York, and that authorities are after her, but they don't know anything about her powers, her intentions, and her involvement with Jacob. And maybe, if we play our cards right, it can stay that way."

"You sure that's wise?" Ben asked. "What if they find out anyway and get mad that they weren't told."

"They're worried enough as is, I imagine." Sue spoke for Reed. "For now, let's not worry them anymore than they already are."

"So, supposing that we do get Emily on our side." Johnny asked, thinking the matter through. "What then? Do we let her keep her superpowers, or do we use the machine to take them away?"

"Well, the power-reversal machine isn't ready yet for one thing." Reed said. "And for another, I think that would have to be something Emily should decide. It only seems fair, after all. However, I can't say the same for Jacob, should the opportunity arise."

"I'm glad somebody sees things my way." Johnny remarked, smirking.

* * *

In the other room, out of sight from the others, an infiltration was in progress on the Baxter Building. But it wasn't Emily, nor was it Jacob. The intruder looked around to double check that the coast was clear, before continuing onward to Reed's lab, listening to the Fantastic Four chat.

"You don't like Jacob, do you?" the intruder heard Ben ask.

"Would you, if he did the same thing to you?" Johnny asked in response as the figure slipped unnoticed into Reed's lab, heading towards on of the many computers the lab housed.

"Actually, if he ever stole my powers, I'd thank him." Ben said, looking down at his rocky hands.

The intruder sat down at a computer, studying the display quickly. After determining what the computer was doing and seeing it was safe for use, the intruder minimized the program it was running, and began typing in commands

"We're getting off the subject again." Sue was heard speaking. "We need a game plan. We can't just rush in there next chance we get and wing it."

"Yes, we've already seen how effective that was." Reed said, in reference to their first encounter as enemies. "If only I knew more about how Emily's powers worked, then I could work out some kind of defense against them."

The intruder grinned at that remark, finding the irony of it humorous. Finishing the last command, the computer brought up a message, which the intruder quickly read, glad things were working out, pulling out a small thumb drive.

"You mean we have to go after her while being completely exposed to her powers?" Johnny asked from the other room.

"I didn't say that." Reed replied. "Right now I've got the computers working out a possible solution. Once their done, we might have something to go off of."

_Not anymore, _the intruder thought, plugging the thumb drive into the computer, downloading something into the device before removing it and returning the computer to how it was originally found.

"So what should we do in the meantime?" Ben was heard asking, as the intruder slipped out of the lab again.

"Get something to eat?" Johnny suggested.

The intruder arrived back at the point he entered at, waiting to see if someone was going to move in his direction.

"How can you think of food at a time like this?" Sue asked her brother.

"I'm hungry." Johnny said, sounding like he was about to move forward, but stopped.

"Let's get something to eat later." Reed said. "First, let's work out a game plan."

_You do that, _the intruder thought, before slipping out the way he came in, leaving things like he had never entered to begin with.


	12. Virus

F4 realize they're in trouble, and Jacob's mysterious helper is revealed... ;)

Chapter 12

Virus

Reed frowned as he struggled with the computer system. "I don't get it." he admitted. "These things were working just fine last night."

Sue stood nearby, watching him. "So what's wrong with them?" she asked.

"I haven't figure it out." Reed said. "But my entire network of computers are acting up. And this is a problem, because they were doing some important things that I can't seem to access anymore."

"Like that idea you had the computers working on about combating Jacob and Emily." Sue stated.

Reed nodded, typing in commands. "Ah, here's something." he said, finally getting an accurate result. But it was a small victory, for soon after, Reed frowned. "Looks like a particularly nasty computer virus got downloaded onto these things." he said dejectedly.

Sue frowned as well. "What, is it one of those online viruses that Johnny has a knack for accidently downloading?" she asked.

"No, this virus is far too complex to be something like that." Reed said, shaking his head. "Sue, I hate to admit it, but I think this computer virus was put here on purpose, to slow our attempts to stop Jacob and Emily indefinitely."

Sue's frown grew. "But how?" she asked.

"I'm not sure." Reed admitted, tinkering with the computer's controls again. "But a virus like this one must have been uploaded manually."

"You mean someone would have to been actually here, at the computer." Sue said, sounding worried. "You mean we had an intruder in here and we never noticed?"

Reed nodded. "Pretty much." he said.

"Check the security cameras." Sue said. "They must have seen it."

"Already tried." Reed said, throwing his hands up in despair at the stubborn computer. "The virus is scrambling them. Can't get _any _accurate information out of it. Whoever did it covered his tracks well."

"Or her." Sue added.

"Yes." Reed amended. "Or her."

A long period of silence fell.

"So, now what?" Sue asked.

"Now," Reed said slowly, "We wait. And hope for the best. There isn't much else we can do until I can get rid of this computer virus and repair the FHC."

"So, in other words, we're helpless." Sue summarized.

"In short, yes." Reed said. "I don't like it either, but there can be no denying it." he paused thinking. "The thing _I _don't get, though, is that all of this isn't really stopping us all together. I mean, sure, we're crippled technology wise, no longer able to travel easily through New York, and no longer able to use the computers to make calculations and process information. We're actually prime for a full direct attack."

"So your wondering why there hasn't been one." Sue finished, catching on.

"Exactly." Reed said. "It seems more to me that they only want to slow us down, not necessarily defeat us."

"Slow us down?" Sue asked. "For what?"

* * *

Elsewhere in New York, Jacob Roberts was opening the last crate of a wide variety of obscure parts for some type of device. Emily stood watching nearby as Jacob sorted through everything. 

"Looks like it's all here then." he announced. He did a quick calculation in his head. "It'll take a day, maybe more, to assemble it, and then the real action begins." he turned to face Emily. "The Fantastic Four are no doubt are trying to figure out where we are, but I'll need them out of my hair until this device is ready. I want you to keep them as busy as you can, as far from here as you can, but without drawing suspicion here." he paused, seeing if Emily had a question. "Understood?"

Emily nodded, turned, then with a little hop-skip was flying into the air and was off, soon vanishing from sight. Jacob turned back to what he was doing.

"You certainly have her wrapped around your finger." a voice behind him suddenly said.

Jacob recognized it immediately. "What are you doing here?" he asked, not turning around. "I thought you weren't going to arrive until the machine was completed."

"I thought you could use some help." the voice continued, coming closer. "Besides, it was me that provided those parts for you, might as well make sure they're used for the right purposes."

"You don't trust me, then." Jacob stated.

"I don't trust anyone." the voice corrected. "Except myself."

"Typical." Jacob snorted. "You don't need to worry though. The only thing I know how to build with these parts is the device we agreed upon."

"So you say." the voice said. "I only have your word on that."

"Look, we're both helping each other, the least we can do is stop wondering who, if anyone, is going to double-cross the other first." Jacob said.

The voice grunted, but said nothing.

"Speaking of your help, how are things going with the Fantastic Four?" Jacob asked, changing the subject.

"Good. The Fantasticar is out of commission for now, which will slow their traveling speed way down, and my little virus that I installed on Reed's computers should have scrambled them quite nicely by now. Add a little bit of chaos, as Emily is no doubt about to do, and they'll be stretched to the breaking point quite quickly."

Jacob nodded, understanding, pulling out one part and beginning to connect it to another.

"You know Jacob," the voice continued. "I've done a great deal to help you. I've provided the parts you needed to build your device, some additional expertise in the device's plan, provided you with funding and transportation, helped keep an eye on our enemy and helped slow them down in their line of work. I even helped you ensnare Emily into our little scheme by playing the part of Dr. Vonassin. You owe me quite a bit."

"And you will be repaid in full, I assure you." Jacob said, concentrating on his work.

"You'd better." the voice began, "Because..."

"Because I always keep my word." Jacob interrupted angrily, whirling around to face the voice. "Unlike some people I know."

The hooded figure that Jacob now faced stood at the defensive position, just to be safe, and out of habit. As he looked up to look Jacob in the eye, Jacob saw the glint of metal under the hood.

"All I'm saying is that you had better keep your end of your bargain." Victor Von Doom said menacingly. "Because I don't treat traitors well."


	13. Fire At Will

Gettin' into some action here. Enjoy. ;)

Chapter 13

Fire At Will

"So, how's our little problem with that computer virus coming along?" Johnny asked, walking into Reed's lab.

"I've got an anti-virus software working on it." Reed said, working with the controls of one such computer. "But it's not helping much. The whole system is really lagged down, slowing every process down to a snail's pace."

"So, to summarize, it's not going good." Johnny stated.

"Right." Reed said. "It's virtually pointless to use the system at all."

Johnny watched Reed work with the stubborn controls. "Okay, I am seeing a bit of an irony here." he pointed out. "You say that it's useless using the computers, right?"

"Right."

"And yet you keep using them." Johnny said, like he just said something profound.

Reed gave his brother-in-law a look. "Right now, I'm trying to get our sensors working off the system, so that they can actually work. It means we have to use them manually, but then we can actually use them."

"Sounds hard." Johnny said.

"Not usually." Reed said. "I've got it worked down to a real easy process that's nice and quick. But because of the virus, it's already gone on for a hour and half longer than it should."

"How long does it usually take?" Johnny asked.

"About two seconds."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, no kidding. Fortunately, I'm almost done." Reed typed in one last command. "There!" he exclaimed, sounding relieved. A piece of paper popped out of a nearby printer. Reed retrieved it. "Okay, this is good." he said, reading the paper. Then he frowned. "Okay, this is bad."

"What? What's bad?" Johnny asked.

"Remember I said I was working on a way to tune in the sensors to pick up Emily?" Reed asked.

"Yeah." Johnny said.

"Well, because of the virus, I was unable to test it, but I think I got it working." Reed explained.

"What's bad about that?" Johnny asked.

"Because if I read this right, Emily is coming straight here." Reed said.

* * *

Emily grinned as she saw the Baxter Building come into view. She had been waiting for this moment ever since she had agreed to help Jacob. And so far, she had no regrets, except for putting this off for so long. It probably wasn't wise to do this at all, but Jacob wanted her to keep the Fantastic Four busy, and to her, this seemed like the best way.

She was confident the Fantastic Four would have no warning too, not in the crippled state their equipment is in. That is, until she saw the semi-transparent, almost invisible, forcefield encompass the Fantastic Four's headquarters.

She frowned, but immediately had a solution. Charging the forcefield straight on, she flew at her stop speed for the exact spot she wanted. At the last possible moment, she phased straight through the field, and then through the wall beyond, finding herself hovering in the Fantastic Four's living room, with all four of them gathered in one spot.

"Is that really the best you can do?" Emily asked.

"Told you my forcefields were no use against her." Sue muttered to Reed. She looked as if she was going to say more, but Emily intervened, using her telekinesis to pull all four of them backwards sharply, bringing them to the floor with loud thuds.

"Alright, now you've made me mad!" Johnny said, picking himself and flaming on.

He charged Emily straight on, which proved to be a poor mistake, for Emily simply phased, allowing Johnny to simply pass through. Johnny didn't see the move coming, being used to fighting more tangible objects and shot into the opposite wall behind Emily at high speeds, knocking himself out. He crashed to the floor, still flaming slightly.

Ben then tried to grab Emily, but found that his arms were simply passing through the girl. Emily smiled an annoying smile, and watched Ben angrily try to grab something he simply couldn't grab for a few moments. Then she grew tired of it, and with a flick of a finger, sent Ben hurling head over heels into a nearby wall, almost breaking straight through the wall.

"Emily stop!" Sue exclaimed. "Don't do something you'll regret!"

"Hardly likely." Emily countered. "I'm _enjoying _this." she tilted her head to one side, looking Sue over. "Ever see _Star Wars_?" she asked.

Before Sue had a chance to determine what Emily was implying, an invisible force grabbed her throat and lifted her into the air. Reed began to panic.

"Emily, no!" Reed cried, flinching under the gagging sounds Sue was making.

He stretched out one arm to grab Emily, forgetting momentarily that Emily could simply phase to allow it pass straight through her.

"Emily, please..." Reed begged, realizing there was nothing he could do.

Emily's conscience suddenly began to nag at her, but she ignored it, subduing the feeling by using her telekinesis to throw Reed into Sue, releasing Sue at the same time, allowing both of them to slam into a wall, then tumble onto the couch that sat under it. Emily then refocused her attention elsewhere in time to find Ben about to ram her. She quickly phased, and Ben simply passed through.

But Emily didn't stop there, using her telekinesis to pick up Ben, regardless of the rocky figure's extreme weight, and threw him through the glass doors that divided Reed's lab from the rest of the penthouse. She then picked up the next person she saw, which was Sue, and threw her as well, in the opposite direction. Sue quickly threw up a personal forcefield to protect herself, smashing into the wall Ben had been sent hurtling into only a few moments earlier. The already weakened wall gave way under the impact, and Sue hurtled through there into the next room.

"Emily, stop this madness!" Reed shouted, drawing the girl's attention. "I know you think we're the enemy, that you're doing a good thing, but in reality, you're not. You're helping a bad guy get what he wants."

"No, I know the truth about you guys!" Emily said.

"You were told lies!" Reed said. "I can prove it, too. Just...sit down and explain to me what you've been told, and I can prove that it's all false!"

"No!" Emily exclaimed. "You'd have to knock me unconscious in order to get me to do that!"

"Fine! Fire at will, Johnny!" Reed suddenly said, bracing himself.

"Wish granted!" a voice behind Emily shouted.

Emily whirled around in time to see Johnny, who had regained consciousness while Emily was battling the others, hurl a low-level fireball at Emily. Caught off guard, Emily did not have time to phase, and was hit straight on, getting knocked backwards into Reed. Reed wrapped his arms around Emily's chest quickly to extinguish the residual flames.

Emily stared at Johnny as he approached her, starting to fade into darkness. Johnny placed on hand on the bleeding lump on his head, and frowned at Emily.

The last thing Emily heard before falling unconscious was Johnny saying, "Trust us, this is for your own good..."


	14. Truth Be Told

And the story goes on... ;) Some scences from "Request Denied" recapped, as well a kind of deleted scene of a sort from the same fanfic that is summarized. Filler mostly, but it tells you that the characters are starting to make connections.

Chapter 14

Truth be Told

Emily awoke again, lying in a small, sparsely decorated, cell. The only one in the room with here was Sue, and a computer. Upon seeing her alleged foe, Emily quickly braced herself for combat.

"Don't." Sue quickly intervened. "There's no need."

Emily gave Sue a look, and tried to phase. Her feet sank into the ground a few inches, but was suddenly stopped by something very solid. Puzzled, Emily tried to force her way through, before Sue stopped her again.

"The room is lined with a special material Reed discovered that will prevent you from phasing through it." Sue explained. "It is also resistant to most forces exerted upon it, so your telekinesis will do little to damage it."

Emily scowled, then hovered over to Sue, almost to say defiantly that wouldn't stop her. "Why am I here?" she asked bluntly. "With you?"

"To tell you the truth." Sue said. "What you have been told about us isn't true, and I can prove it."

"Try all you want." Emily stated, "But it would take me actually seeing it to believe it."

"We can manage it." Sue said, turning to the computer, and opening a video file. "What you are about to see was taken a few months ago. Tell me if you can identify who's all in it."

The video started, showing Johnny Storm lying on a cot in a cell not unlike the one Emily now found herself in. For several moments, that was all the video showed, but slowly Emily began to notice that one wall of the cell was starting to glow bright red, like it was getting extremely hot.

Johnny must have noticed, for he rolled over and sat up, looking at it. Before he had a chance to do much of anything, the wall suddenly shattered, scattering debris everywhere. In the space the wall had once occupied, floated a figure, fully engulfed in flames. For a moment, Emily thought she was seeing double, that there was two of Johnny, but she quickly crossed that out when she recognized the figure on fire.

"That's Jacob!" she exclaimed suddenly.

Sue nodded, motioning for her to be silent.

"You!" Johnny exclaimed on the tape.

"Yes, me!" Jacob shouted back gleefully, looking like he was having fun.

"Just who are you anyway?" Johnny asked.

"Gotta catch me first!" Jacob taunted. Emily sensed something almost evil about Jacob's attitude.

"What's with you and this catching thing?" Johnny asked, annoyed, but Emily suddenly realized he was stalling.

"I'm bored." Jacob replied simply.

"I can think of far better things to do." Johnny said. The cell door on the recording suddenly opened, and the rest of the Fantastic Four filed into the room.

"Although taunting you _is _a fun sport, Johnny." Ben remarked as he entered.

Johnny half-turned, but stopped when he saw Jacob begin to fly off. Seeing this, Johnny then whirled back around, flamed on himself, which surprised Emily, then raced out the ruined wall to give pursuit after Jacob, both disappearing from view.

The recording then ended. Sue turned to Emily expectantly.

Emily was silent for a moment. "That must have been the situation Jacob referred to that got him in trouble with you guys." she said, understanding. "He didn't tell me much about it."

"Now you know why." Sue said. "He really was in the wrong, and causing trouble; not us, like he no doubt believes and told you." she changed videos, loading a new one. "This one was taken the next day."

The video began, showing a open, glass sliding door. Beyond it, out on a patio, sat Johnny in a lawn chair, his back to the camera. He was too far away to tell what he was doing. Then, suddenly, a flaming figure landed directly in front of Johnny. Emily again recognized the figure as Jacob.

Johnny stood, and they began to talk. They were too far to hear, but it was clear that Johnny seemed very agitated, and Jacob was acting very serious and dark, a big contrast to his attitude in the last video. This time around Jacob was acting more like the Jacob Emily knew. Jacob started to pace, still talking. It was clear he was not happy. Johnny didn't look exactly thrilled either. Emily wondered what was going on.

Then Ben suddenly charged through the open sliding door, momentarily blocking the camera's view. He was about to grab Jacob when Jacob quickly took to the air, flaming on. Ben missed and crashed to a wooden boat dock beyond the patio. Jacob again landed, conversing with Johnny, but what happened next was hidden from view when Reed and Sue suddenly charged out the sliding door to Jacob. Reed was about to grab Jacob when the video ended.

"A battle then ensued after that point." Sue explained, "And the camera didn't get much of it."

Emily nodded slowly, stunned.

"And now, the final video." Sue said. "And the most important one. This was taken later the same day."

The third video began, showing Reed and Jacob in a jail cell. Jacob sat in a chair in the middle of the cell, and judging from the look on his face, it was clear that he was the prisoner.

Reed was pacing in circles around Jacob. "So tell me, Jacob Roberts, what spurred you to do what you have done?" he asked.

Jacob looked surprised that Reed knew his name, and visibly paled. Emily saw that Jacob knew his little game was up.

So he told everything. Who he was, where he lived, how he got his power, what happened because of it, why he ran away from home, and, most importantly to Emily, why he attacked the Fantastic Four at all. His reasons were very different from what he had told Emily, and she felt anger welling up inside of her for being lied to by someone who pretended to be her friend an ally.

When the video ended, Sue turned off the computer and looked at Emily expectantly.

Emily shook her head. "I don't know what to say." she admitted. "Other than sorry."

"You were lied to and manipulated." Sue said reassuringly. "You were simply doing what you thought was right. And no one has been hurt yet. And we won't press charges against you."

Emily kept shaking her head. "I've been Jacob's little puppet throughout all of this, haven't I?" she asked. "He needed help, and chose me to be it." she scowled. "If I get my hands on that little twirp..."

"You and me both." Sue agreed. "Jacob has caused us more trouble than we care to admit."

Then Emily suddenly thought of something. "But, what about that life form Jacob told me about, that nearly ate the Earth?"

Sue froze. "Galactus?" she asked, as if she expected Emily to know what that meant. "Jacob told you about that?"

"He summarized it." Emily said. "He said that you guys didn't do much to stop it, yet in the cover story, it says you did."

"That was the military's doing, not ours." Sue said quickly in the Fantastic Four's defense. "And trust me, there is nothing more we want than to change that. We don't want to take credit for something we didn't do." she paused, rubbing her forehead. "But how did Jacob find out about Galactus and Norrin?" she asked quietly.

"Jacob has an outside source." Emily said suddenly, just now remembering. "He has been supplying Jacob with various materials he needs for his plans, as well as transportation, even a little bit of funding."

"But not enough, because you had to rob a bank." Sue said.

"Right." Emily said, nodding.

"Do you know who this supporter is?" Sue asked.

"Not really." Emily admitted. "Jacob communes with him via cell phone in private, usually when I'm not around. Whoever he is, he belongs to some obscure industry. Jacob said it's been failing as of late. I wonder if what Jacob plans will somehow help the industry get back on it's feet."

"It's possible." Sue said. "But odd, all the same." she paused, looking at Emily. "I suppose you're on our side now?" she asked.

Emily nodded. "Completely." she said. "In fact, I think my ties with Jacob were strained from the beginning, seeing that he tricked me into getting involved to begin with."

"Good." Sue said, opening the cell door. "We need to figure out exactly what Jacob plans to do. You'll need to tell everything to Reed."

"Oh believe me, I will." Emily assured her, as they stepped out of the door.


	15. Logo of Doom

The Fantastic Four make another connection. Climax of the story to be in next chapter. ;)

Chapter 15

Logo of Doom

Reed slid out from under the Fantasticar. "Johnny, had me that screwdriver."

Johnny, who stood nearby at a tool shelf, studied the various tools on it skeptically.

"Which screwdriver?" he asked. "Reed, you have like two-thousand of the things."

"The little one with the pointed tip." Reed clarified.

"This one?" Johnny asked, lifting up one of the many screwdrivers.

"Nope."

"This one?"

"No."

"How about this one then?"

"Definitely not."

"Then maybe this one?"

"No, it's this one, you dolt." Ben said, intervening by grabbing the right screwdriver and handing it to Reed.

He then went back to the metal hood he was straightening, the only thing his size and strength would really permit him to do as they jointly worked to repair the Fantasticar. As they worked, Sue walked in, followed by Emily.

"Reed." Sue said softly, announcing her presence.

Reed slid out from under the craft again, and saw Emily. "Well?" he asked expectantly.

"She's on our side." Sue summarized, to Reed's relief.

"You bet I am." Emily added, studying the Fantasticar in awe. "Especially if I get to ride in this thing! You know, this is the closest I've gotten to the Fantasticar, except for that one time when I..."

"FHC." Reed automatically corrected.

"Huh?" Emily asked, puzzled.

"FHC, not Fantasticar." Reed explained. "That's it's _real_ name."

"Well, that's stupid." Emily remarked. "What kind of name is FHC anyway?"

"A really dumb one." Johnny remarked. "You don't even want to know what the letters stand for."

"Why, what do they stand for?" Emily asked.

"_Anyway,_" Sue interrupted. "Emily is here to tell what she knows of what Jacob plans to do."

"Which is really limited, so I hope it'll be enough." Emily added.

"Well, we'll work with what we've got." Reed said, escorting Emily over to a computer. "Maybe we can make a few deductions." he tapped a few commands into the computer. "Now, tell me everything you know."

And Emily did, explaining everything, from when she first met Jacob and his double dare that ultimately led to Emily receiving her powers, to Jacob's order for her to keep the Fantastic Four busy while he built his mysterious device.

"What is this device?" Reed asked.

"I wish I knew now." Emily said. "Jacob never told me, and I never thought to ask. And I'm no scientist, so I can't just look at it and know exactly what it is."

"You said it was in pieces though." Reed continued. "Pre-made pieces. And judging from what you have been able to describe, these aren't pieces you can find anywhere. Do you know where he's getting them?"

"Not particularly." Emily admitted. "I know Jacob is getting them from his mysterious source, and that we used the stolen money to help pay for the parts."

"Okay, but who is this source?" Reed asked.

"Dunno, I never saw him." Emily admitted. "Like I said, Jacob has been keeping him pretty secret."

"But it can't just be anybody." Reed reasoned.

"No, of course not." Emily agreed. "I know he's part of some company I've never heard of. All I know about it is that they specialize in this kind of thing, and that they used to be pretty prestigious until they hit bad times. It's at risk of failing. They've also got a real lame logo."

"Wait, a logo?" Reed asked. "You've seen their logo?"

"Yeah, it was plastered all over the parts Jacob bought." Emily said.

"Can you describe it?" Reed asked, pulling up a program on the computer, annoyed momentarily at the delay for it to load, having momentarily forgotten about the computer virus that was plaguing the system.

Emily thought for a moment. "Not really, I didn't pay much attention to it." she admitted.

"Maybe you can see it among these?" Reed asked, as he pulled up a whole list of logos on the computer.

Emily skimmed over them. "That one." she said pointing, as it jumped out at her.

Reed visibly paled as he saw which logo it was.

"Oh, no, do we ever have a problem." Reed remarked, as he studied the logo.

Written on it in bold letters was the words "Von Doom Industries"...

* * *

Jacob placed the part into the slot and then twisted it, locking it into place. He then stepped over to a control panel of a sort, and flipped the switch. The power core came on, and lights flickered to life. The large and intricate machine he had just built was soon fully powered.

Jacob grinned. He pulled out a cell phone and hit speed dial. "Oh, Doom, guess what?" he said into the phone. "It's done. And ready to roll..."


	16. Techno Kinesis

The F4 and Emily prepare for battle, and the betrayer becomes the betrayed...

Chapter 16

Techno-Kinesis

Reed made one last adjust to the device he was adjusting and replaced to cover to the Fantasticar.

"There, the FHC is ready to roll." Reed said, standing up.

Emily, who was standing nearby watching, flinched at the name. "For the love of Pete, just call it the Fantasticar." she muttered.

Reed gave her a look. "No." he said bluntly.

"Did I hear that right, the Fantasticar is ready to roll?" Johnny asked, stepping anxiously into the room.

"FHC." Reed corrected.

"No, Fantasticar." Emily corrected back. "Less confusing that way."

"Whatever the case," Reed continued, as Johnny went to get the others, "We need to go now, and stop Jacob. If Victor Von Doom really is involved in this, then whatever it is they are jointly working together can't be good."

"Right." Emily said, climbing into the Fantasticar suddenly. "I'm coming with."

"I figured you were going to say that." Reed said. "Can't say that I approve."

"Well, try and stop me!" Emily said. "I would _still _be running rampant about on Jacob's side had Johnny not gotten that lucky shot at me. Before then, there wasn't much you guys could do to stop me."

"Exactly why I've already decided not to bother." Reed stated. "You are involved in this as much as the rest of us, and you have a personal score to settle with Jacob as well." He paused, glancing at Emily's attire. "However, there is one thing you'll need if you're going to be coming along."

He left for a moment, then returned with a smaller version of the suits the Fantastic Four themselves wore, only it was in Emily's size and lacked the traditional logos of the Fantastic Four, thus not facilitating herself with any one but herself.

"I had it made awhile back, for a kid about your age who was starring in a public service announcement Johnny talked us into doing a year or so back." Reed explained. "It's a long story, but it ended up never getting used in the end. However, I hung onto it in case it was needed for some odd reason. Now I think you'll have a better use for it than me."

Emily's eyes gleamed with excitement, and left quickly to go put the suit on. She returned soon afterward, after the rest of the Fantastic Four had gathered, looking quite pleased with herself.

"I thought you had a better sense of fashion than that." Ben quipped, which earned him a slap on the arm from Sue.

"_I _think it looks great." Emily said, ignoring Ben.

"Let's discuss it later." Reed prompted. "We're running out of time."

"To the Fantasticar, then!" Johnny said, pointing at the craft.

"FHC, Johnny!" Reed corrected.

"Fantasticar!" Emily shouted back.

"I think you're losing the battle here, Reed." Ben said.

"I get to ride in the Fantasticar!" Emily said next, hopping into what would normally be Johnny's seat.

"But that's my seat!" Johnny complained.

"Johnny, we don't have the time!" Reed said, climbing into the driver's seat. "Just humor me and fly along beside us for once!"

Johnny thought better than to object, and soon, they were all off.

"So, it looks like Victor is playing a hand in this situation too?" Sue asked as the Fantasticar zoomed away from the Baxter Building, Johnny trailing in it's wake, fully flamed.

Reed glanced at Emily, who looked grim. "It certainly seems that way." he admitted.

"So how do you think metalhead cheated death this time?" Ben asked.

"I don't know, but as usual, he's up to no good." Reed replied as they continued onward for their destination. "And I know Victor. He works alone, meaning he'll be double-crossing Jacob at anytime now..."

* * *

As soon as Victor heard that Jacob had the machine running, he flew straight to the location via helicopter.

"About time!" he said, after he had landed the helicopter on the roof of the building, and was watching Jacob conducted a few last minute tests. "I've been waiting for a chance to get back in the game, and this is the way to do it!"

"I know, I know." Jacob said, annoyed. "I've heard you're whole sob story, the only real reason you're helping me anyway. Trust me, you'll get you're just reward." He then sat down in a chair in the middle of the machine, watching various displays come to life at the same time. "Now for the real test."

He closed his eyes, and concentrated. The machine hummed louder, and then suddenly, Jacob felt total power come to his control. He opened his eyes and grinned darkly.

"It works." he announced.

"Good!" Victor exclaimed, then promptly let loose a ball of electricity at Jacob, not caring if the pent up energy killed the teenage boy.

But the ball never got that far, instead hitting an invisible barrier in-between them both, discharging prematurely. Victor stared at it, slightly shocked.

"Cool, isn't it?" Jacob said. "I figured out to recreate the Invisible Woman's forcefields, and set up a generator for them without you're knowing. I knew that you were going to try and double-cross me, so I planned accordingly."

Victor looked alarmed now, suddenly realizing that he was at a disadvantage now.

"Besides," Jacob continued idly, "I lied when I said you could use this machine too. All it does is enhance techno-kinesis to the point that all technology on the planet is under that person's control, assuming he has the techno-path ability, and the only person in the world who has that ability is me. Wouldn't work for you at all." he grinned again. "So the betrayer is really the betrayed in the end."

Victor began looking for a way out, knowing that he was currently out powered and at risk.

"Now," Jacob began again, "About that 'just reward' I spoke of..."

He looked past Victor and at the helicopter he arrived in. At Jacob's silent command, it started up, and began to hover. Victor turned to look at it in time for it to surge forward at him. He started to turn a flee, but the helicopter was too quick, running straight into him. Victor was thrown through the helicopter's windshield and into it's cockpit.

Jacob then used his enhanced techno-path abilities to reorient the helicopter, and have it fly far, far, far away from here, going as high as it could.

Jacob grinned. "That should take care of ol' Dr. Doom." he said. "And I'm just getting started..."


	17. Cheating Death

Chapter 17

Cheating Death

The Fantasticar zoomed to the location of Jacob's hide-out post haste with Johnny zooming along beside them.

"Any ideas how we're going to fight Jacob?" Ben asked.

"Not really." Emily admitted.

"If we hurry, we shouldn't have to worry too much about it." Reed said. "I have bad feeling about whatever it is Jacob's building. Something tells me we've got to get there before he activates it."

"Too late for that, Mr. Fantastic." a voice suddenly said.

Everyone looked around for the source, before finally finding it was coming from a monitor on the Fantasticar itself. Jacob's face was currently on it.

"My machine is all prepped and ready for use." Jacob explained. "In fact, I'm using it right now, that's how I'm communicating with you all. I'd think you'd like to study it, Mr. Fantastic. Too bad you'll never get to."

"Jacob, stop." Reed quickly said. "Think about what you're doing..."

"I already _have._" Jacob pressed, grinning. "And I like it."

"What does this machine do?" Sue asked, trying to buy time.

"Oh, no you don't." Jacob said, catching on. "You can't get me to stall. I know you're on your way. But you won't reach your destination."

"Who says we won't?" Ben challenged. "We out number you, five to one."

"Maybe so." Jacob said. "But not even Dr. Doom himself could withstand my machine."

"Victor was there?" Reed asked, then, more seriously, "What did you do?"

"Nothing much, really, just got him out of my way." Jacob said. "Too self absorbed, him."

"I'll agree to that." Ben muttered.

"But we're not, and you know it, Jacob." Reed said, seeing that they were almost there. "We've beaten you once, we can do it again."

"But you forget." Jacob said. "This time, you guys are at the disadvantage. Oh, and by the way, time's up."

Suddenly, the Fantasticar jerked to a halt. Johnny was caught off guard and zoomed on by.

"What the...?" Reed said, grasping at the suddenly useless controls.

"Forget it." Jacob said. "I'm in control now."

Reed looked up, in shock. "How?" he asked.

"Well, that's what my machine is all about." Jacob said. "You know my power, the techno-path ability? All the machine does is enhance it a hundred fold. So, now I can do things like this."

Suddenly, the Fantasticar started spinning like a top, throwing it's occupants all to one side. Johnny hovered nearby, trying to figure out what to do. Then, the vehicle abruptly stopped, but just as quickly shot upwards, gaining altitude rapidly. Johnny struggled to keep up.

"Jacob stop this, right now!" Emily said.

"Ah yea, Emily, I was just getting to you." Jacob said. "I can see that you've switched sides. Normally, this would irk me to no end, but for me, it's better this way. See, I would've had to of gotten rid of you at some point. So why not get rid of you and the Fantastic Four at the same time?"

Johnny finally caught up and tried to slow the Fantasticar down by pushing it backward, but to no avail. Finally, the vehicle stopped once again, miles upon miles above New York. They remained there long enough to begin to look around. But then the Fantasticar suddenly began to shut down. Everything. The controls, the sensors, everything. This included the engine.

As they all realized as the vehicle began to tumble downward like a rock.

Emily screamed as the Fantasticar plunged downward at an ever growing speed. Sue and Ben began to yell at once as Reed struggled to come up with a solution, fruitlessly trying to restart the Fantasticar. Johnny pursued still, latching on to the vehicle's side, trying to slow it's descent.

"I'm not strong enough!" he shouted, giving up.

"Too bad I can't fly!" Ben yelled wishfully.

"That's it!" Reed exclaimed, an idea coming to him. "Everybody out of the car!"

"What!?" Emily and Sue both exclaimed together.

"Just trust me!" Reed said, unstrapping himself from his seat and throwing himself out of the vehicle.

Sue came next, and hurled out into space, followed shortly by Ben, who started falling almost as fast as the Fantasticar itself. Knowing there wasn't a second to waste, Emily quickly unlatched herself from her seat. Physics did the rest, quickly ripping her out of the car. She was disoriented for a moment, seeing many things at once as she used his telekinesis to stop her fall.

She succeeded, only to have zoom out of the way as the Fantasticar tumbled past, as well as the rest of the Fantastic Four. Emily zoomed after them, hoping she could help in some way. Reed had flattened himself into a kind of glider, and zoomed over to where Ben fell. Then he stretched his arms out and wrapped them around Ben, turning himself into a parachute, slowing Ben's fall. Johnny chased after his sister, yelling out instructions. Sue finally managed to get a grip on herself long enough to throw up a forcefield to stop her fall.

"Emily!" Reed shouted. "Grab hold of me, and keep me stable! We're going to try and bring Ben close enough to the Fantasticar for him to grab it!"

"_That's _your plan?" Emily asked, rushing over to obey.

"It's a gamble, yes!" Reed admitted, allowing himself to reform into his usual shape, "But it's the best we can do!"

Emily obeyed, wrapping her arms around Reed's middle, and pulling. She was nearly dragged down with the combined weight of Reed and Ben, and was forced to use her telekinesis to stop herself from being pulled right out of the air. She then maneuvered as best as she could towards the tumbling Fantasticar.

New York suddenly started surging upward greeting them, making them realize just how little time they had left. Emily came closer to the falling vehicle. Ben tried to grab it, but missed, partly due to the way the craft was tumbling, and that he simply wasn't close enough. They fell farther still, the roofs of the individual buildings having swelled to the size of postage stamps and quickly getting bigger.

They tried again. Ben waited until the Fantasticar had completed an erratic barrel roll, then latched onto it's side and pulled.

"Got it!" he grunted.

"Slow us down, Emily!" Reed yelled as the roofs of the buildings grew to their proper sizes.

Emily pulled back both physically and mentally, struggling under the combined weight. They slowed, but not enough. As the roofs of the skyscrapers zipped past them suddenly, Johnny zipped down to the other end of the Fantasticar and began pushing. They slowed even more. The ground steadily began coming closer.

Reed, Ben, Emily, and Johnny all let out yells as the ground raced towards them, looking like they weren't going to succeed. But at the last moment, only a matter of a foot and a half from the ground, they finally managed to stop their fall. Johnny flamed off suddenly in relief, flopping onto the ground. He was then forced to roll out of the way as Ben set the Fantasticar down with a grunt. Reed then lowered Ben down and released him, and soon afterward Emily let go of Reed before landing herself, weary from the whole event.

But they were quick to realize that their troubles were only beginning, as Jacob's face suddenly began to appear on every screen in New York City, if not more.

"Attention everybody!" Jacob said loudly, his voice being channeled through every speaker system. "You do not know me, but you all will soon. It's not important that you know how, but I want you to know that everything electronic all across the globe is now at the mercy of my control. If you try to do anything with said devices without my okay, you could get hurt. So, for now, stay out of my way as I attend to some business, then we'll talk in full. Oh, and all hail Jacob Roberts, supreme ruler of planet Earth! Ha, I always wanted to say that."


	18. Where There's a Will

More action. A Johnny centric chapter in which I have some fun with. ;)

Chapter 18

Where There's a Will

The Fantastic Four quickly regrouped around the landed Fantasticar.

"So, now what?" Johnny asked.

"Well, we can't use any technology, because Jacob controls it all." Reed said.

"Is that all you've got?" Emily asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." Reed admitted.

"Don't worry, you'll think of something." Sue assured her husband. "You always do."

"Think Jacob knows we survived?" Ben asked.

Suddenly, the Fantasticar powered up and began to hover near them.

"I'd say that's a safe bet." Emily said, panicking.

The little hovercraft charged them suddenly, causing them to all scatter, except for Emily, who waited a second too long, and was forced to phase in order to not get hit. The Fantasticar continued on, racing into the night. Johnny hesitated for a moment, then flamed on and raced after it.

"Johnny, where are you going?" Sue asked.

"I've got an idea!" Johnny shouted back, and was soon lost from sight.

The remainder of them regrouped again, only to scatter again as four specially designed fighter jets suddenly sped by from over head, their sonic booms echoing loudly. A thought came to Reed, and he didn't like it.

"Everybody, follow those jets!" Reed ordered, and they raced after in the wake of the low-flying aircraft.

* * *

Johnny followed the Fantasticar as well as he could. Jacob must have realized at one point that Johnny was following, for the craft quickly sped up, zig-zagging between buildings, trying to lose it's follower. Johnny struggled to keep up, but managed.

Finally the Fantasticar looped around one building, and headed for the top of another, which looked to be abandoned. A slight glow was being emitted from it's roof, so Johnny presumed this was Jacob's hideout. The beginning of a plan started to come to mind, but before he could do anything, a distant roar came to his ears.

He turned around in time to see four fighter jets speed past him at such speeds he momentarily lost control in their slipstream. The jets came about, then came for another run. Johnny saw with a start that they were armed, and began to flee, just as a hailstorm of weapon's fire began to rain down upon him.

Burning hotter in hopes that the smaller shells would get burned up before reaching him and that the jets were not equipped with heatseekers, Johnny began to evade the fire. He was fairly successful, most of the shells hitting the nearby buildings far from their intended targets. He was surprised that whoever was flying the jets were such poor shots.

The jets finally overtook him and zoomed past. Again they looped around for another run, and this time Johnny was better prepared. He noticed almost too late that he had lost sight of the Fantasticar, which had looped around itself, and now charged at him from behind. Johnny reacted at the last moment, and the Fantasticar literally skimmed under him, close enough that Johnny could touch it without reaching out, close enough that he was almost literally _in _the Fantasticar. Close enough that he smashed through the craft's windshield as it zipped past, and had to lay himself out flat to avoid getting hit by the craft's tail fins.

Panting, he watched the Fantasticar zoom away, and remembered the jets just in time to avoid a missile fired from one of them, which impacted a nearby building. Johnny fled, suddenly having second thoughts about following the Fantasticar, as the jet's trailed behind him, trying to line up a shot.

Johnny traveled like this for several moments, then suddenly turned around and shot backwards towards the nearest jet. He smacked into the jet's hull, leaving a dent, and skidded across it's hull before he managed to latch his fingers onto one of the jet's two tail fins. To his surprise, the jet suddenly stopped, coming to a hover, allowing the other jets speed ahead of it.

Johnny looked around, aching from the impact, having never seen a jet do something like this before, and glanced at the jet's cockpit. To his surprise, he saw that it was empty, but quickly realized the reason. Jacob. He was controlling the jets like he did the Fantasticar. Johnny threw a fireball at the glass canopy of the cockpit, with the idea of sitting himself behind the controls and try to at least slow Jacob down, but then the jet did something else Johnny had never seen such a craft do under it's own power.

It started spinning like a stop, sending itself into a flat spin, but was kept under control no doubt by Jacob's caring hand. Inertia pressed Johnny into thin metal skin of the jet, and instinctively burned hotter, unknowingly melting the jet's hull, the hand he used to hang onto the jet's tail fin slowly melting it's way through.

Suddenly, the whole tail fin came away in his hand, and Johnny was flung off of the jet. The jet, having lost on of it's most important parts, struggled to stay airborne before finally crashing into a small park. Trying to stop his head from spinning, Johnny reoriented himself, and saw the remaining three jets coming his way.

Emboldened by his success in downing the fourth jet, he let them coming, sending a fireball at a missile that came his way, making it explode prematurely. The jets flew past him once again, and as they did so, Johnny threw a fireball at the exposed underwing of one such jet. The heat triggered the full bank of missiles the wing carried and the whole jet exploded in mid-air.

Johnny then chased after the other jets, luring them away from the populated parts of the city, and out to sea. The jet's dropped back so that they chased after Johnny. Getting an idea, the living fireball dropped lower to the sea, and let loose a stream of fire at the water below. This sent up a cloud of steam that engulfed one entire jet. Not being able to tell where it was going, and the steam interfering with it's controls, it smashed into the sea.

That only left one jet, which was racing toward Johnny. Johnny fled from it, as if in retreat, heading back towards Jacob's hideout. Finally, he came within sight of it, and raced towards it. Just when it looked like he was going to ram into it, he pulled up, racing up the abandoned building's front.

The last jet did not have such maneuverability, and crashed straight into the building, a huge fireball belching out of the building's side, raining debris. Johnny could almost hear the building start to loose structural integrity. He heard a low hum, and quickly raced to one side as the Fantasticar zipped past him. Once it had past, Johnny went into a dive, heading straight for the ground.

He knew that the Fantasticar had the same maneuverability as he did, and wouldn't be able to pull off the same stunt as he did with the last jet, but that wasn't his intention. This time he allowed himself to get closer to the ground, and pulled up at the last second, so that he was literally inches away from the ground. As expected, Jacob from his unseen location commanded the Fantasticar to do the same, thinking he could have the craft skim along the road they were now on like Johnny could.

What he didn't think of was the fact that there were obstacles on the road that he had to worry about while Johnny, being much smaller, didn't. Such as parked cars. The Fantasticar ran into one such car, then another, crashing into the ground. Johnny pulled up and away as the Fantasticar skidded under him, did a loop-de-loop, and landed. He did so just in time for his compatriots to finally catch up with him.

"You guys missed the action!" Johnny complained. "Wish I had a video camera."

"We saw some of the action from afar." Sue assured him, panting from their run to get here.

"And besides," Reed added, "I think the action is only beginning."

He looked up at the building where Jacob and his illusive machine was in, wondering what Jacob would try next...


	19. There's a Way

And yet another chapter. More action, but it's winding down now. Story should end in two or more chapters.

Chapter 19

There's a Way

Jacob hung onto the armrests of his chair as he felt the building sway. It was losing structural integrity fast, no thanks to that jet Johnny rammed into the building. He could hear the building's metal frame creak and groan. Rapidly, he searched his mind for a possible solution.

And one came to mind.

He didn't like it too much, but it would be effective. Reaching out with his mind to the technology located at the nearby military base, he searched for something big enough to carry him and his machine far away from New York. And he found something. A fairly large cargo helicopter. And there was even some people in it at the moment.

Jacob grinned. This was good, and quickly seized control of the helicopter, commanding it to come here, with it's occupants still inside. Once the helicopter was well under way, he confronted the next matter pressing his mind, and also grabbed control of some cranes sitting a few blocks away from his position, commanding them to come here as well, with the idea of trying to keep the building up long enough for him to escape.

Then, finally, he reached out even further to a nuclear missile silo further down the coast, and ordered one of the missiles there to load, in preparation to fire...

* * *

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four and Emily watched from the foot of the building.

"What's he up to?" Reed thought aloud.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Ben reasoned.

"He must be getting desperate, too." Sue added. "Jacob can't stay there forever, and he knows it."

"He'll be looking for a way out." Emily said. "And if he could get planes to obey his commands like that..."

"He could get something else to come to him to get him out of here." Reed concluded, wondering what that could be.

A low rumbling rang out, and they all turned to see three tall cranes slowly rolling towards them. As was to be expected, no one was visibly driving them.

"First matter of business." Reed said. "Keep safe long enough _to _escape." he turned to Johnny. "Feel like blowing something up?" he asked.

"Am I ever." Johnny replied, and flamed on, racing towards the cranes.

Jacob saw what Johnny was about to do, and tried to stop Johnny by swinging the crane's arms at him, but Johnny was too quick, ducking under the cranes and throwing a stream of fire at the crane's gas tank, igniting it and bringing it to a halt. He quickly did the same thing for the next two cranes.

"Good work Johnny." Reed said as Johnny returned.

"But now what?" Ben asked. "We need to directly attack Jacob, but he catches on to our attempts to get close too quickly."

"Yeah, he saw me coming a mile away." Johnny said.

Reed pondered the issue for a moment.

"Anybody got an idea?" Sue asked.

Reed glanced at his wife, and an idea donned on him immediately afterward. "Yes." he said. "I do."

* * *

Jacob waited impatiently for the copter to arrive. Since it wasn't fast like the jets, it was taking it awhile to get here. He was also mad that his cranes were destroyed before they got here, and the building was still at risk of collapsing. But at least there was still one thing left he had control over. The nuclear missile was in position, no doubt to the alarm of the US government, but he didn't care. All he had to do was tell it to launch, and it would, heading straight for New York, hopefully to wipe out the Fantastic Four when it detonated.

Granted, over lives would be lost as well, which was the part Jacob didn't like, but it wasn't like the Fantastic Four gave him any other choices. So that loss of life was their fault. Their fault he was reduced to mass-killing as a choice. Either that or surrender, but he wasn't picking that.

Because to him, surrender wasn't a choice at all...

Sue squeezed her eyes shut, telling herself not to look down as she felt herself rise up into the air.

"You're doing good, Sue, just hang on." she heard Reed say. "Keep her steady, please Emily."

Against her better judgement, Sue opened her eyes, and saw she was already two stories up in the air and accelerating. Sue gulped, then just reassurance's sake, glanced behind her. There Emily hovered, using her telekinesis to lift herself as well as Sue, who was currently invisible.

"We're making good progress." Emily muttered, as they rose higher, now five stories up and out of hearing range of any Reed's reassurances.

"We're coming up behind Jacob and the machine, right?" Sue asked softly, as if afraid Jacob would hear her even from here.

"Yeah, I can see it's tip already." Emily assured Sue, looking upward.

"Will he be able to us from there?" Sue asked.

"Hard to say." Emily admitted. "Let's hope he's distracted enough not to notice, long enough for us to disable the machine."

They rose higher, now reaching ten floors off of the ground.

"Almost there." Emily said. "We better stay quiet now."

Sue nodded, then realized too late that Emily wouldn't be able to see that.

Twelve stories up and they were there. Sue looked around, and saw first Jacob's machine; a tangle of metal, wires, and other devices big enough to be about the size of a closet; then she saw Jacob, sitting in the machine, looking as if in thought. Sue presumed that he was currently working at controlling something with his techno-path abilities.

Emily carefully and silently lowered Sue onto the roof directly behind Jacob, where they could not be seen. Even though Sue was invisible, the extra precautions helped. Emily then ducked back down past the roof edge to hide. Cautiously, feeling the weakened building sway beneath her, Sue took a few steps forward, giving the machine a looking over, wondering what would shut it down.

But then she ran into a solid wall. A forcefield. Like her own.

A alarm went off, and Jacob spun around. "Who's there?" he exclaimed. "Susan Storm?"

Sue gulped, and wondered what to do know.

Jacob looked around, glaring. "I know you're there." he said. When he got no response, he shrugged. "Okay, I'll go ahead and launch that _nuclear missile _I've got prepped to go a few miles down the coast from here."

Sue gulped again, and instinctively looked in the direction Jacob indicated, then mentally reprimanded herself, knowing that there was no way she could see the missile launch from this distance. But it had launched, she was sure of it. Jacob wasn't one to make empty threats.

Emily must have realized this was well, because she suddenly surged out of hiding and zoomed into the air. "No!" she exclaimed as she went, and possibly more, but was out of hearing range too quickly.

Jacob, surprised, leapt out of the chair, and hoping that meant he was no longer using the machine, Sue took action. If this forcefield really was like her own, then there was a way past it. Quickly, she threw up one of her own forcefields and pressed it against the one Jacob had somehow reproduced. The two energies canceled each other out, making a flash of light and a loud crackling noise that Jacob must have seen and heard. But it also created a gap large enough for Sue to travel through.

Knowing invisibility wouldn't help her now, Sue turned visible again, and raced through the hole she had created and grabbed a bundle of exposed wires on the machine. Then Jacob rammed into her, knocking her to one side. Sue's grip on the wires held and with a spark, severed in two. But the machine still seemed to be running.

Pushing Jacob off of her, Sue zipped around to the front of the machine. Jacob followed, then quickly planted himself in the chair again. At the same time, Sue heard the sound of a helicopter, and turned to see a large military cargo craft arrive and land on the roof. It's rear door lowered to reveal two very startled occupants, one of them military.

"If you want to live, you'll grab her for me, please." Jacob said, lowering his make-shift forcefield.

The two people didn't question Jacob's abilities and quickly grabbed Sue by the arms.

"No, let me go, I'm the good guy!" she said.

But they didn't listen to her. So she turned invisible, and since the two people could no longer see her exact movements, she was able to take them out fairly quickly. Once that was done, she turned back to Jacob, looking a bit frightened himself. Concentrating, Sue created a forcefield within the machine somewhere and expanded it from the size of a marble to the size of a wreaking ball, throwing Jacob out of his seat in the process, instantly rendering the machine dead.

"No!" Jacob exclaimed, picking himself up. "Don't you realize we're all dead now? That nuclear missile is on it's way to _here!_"

"Hopefully Emily went to do something about it." Sue said, then saw the helicopter still idling behind her, getting an idea. She grabbed Jacob's arm and threw him into the aircraft.

"Get in there, you've caused enough trouble for one night." Sue said, then pulled the two unconscious guards into the chopper as well.

Sue then sat down at the controls, only to realize she didn't know how these things to work. She went and grabbed Jacob, dragging him to the cockpit.

"Fly this thing exactly as I say!" she demanded, "Or I will throw you off this craft, where you'll find that gravity has more power over you than you over it!"

Jacob, getting the hint, obeyed, and the chopper slowly lifted off of the building's roof.

* * *

Miles above them, Emily fly higher, looking for the missile. Finally she saw it, several miles above her, and no doubt far higher up than she'll ever be able to go without a spacesuit. But she hoped she wouldn't have to. Coming to a stop, she closed her eyes, and envisioned the inside of the missile. Then, she envisioned what the detonator on the missile would look like it, and commanded her telekinesis to crush it, hoping her powers would do the rest.

She opened her eyes and looked for the missile. It was still on course and going still, and Emily thought for a moment that it hadn't worked, but then the missile exploded brilliantly, at a safe enough distance that it looked to be more like an overgrown firework.

Emily finally permitted herself to relax, so much so she was unconsciously sinking lower in the air.

"May this day be over real soon." she prayed out loud as she sank back down towards ground.


	20. Request Denied

Things are starting to get resolved. One more chapter to go after this.

Chapter 20

Request Denied

By the time Sue had gotten Jacob to pilot the helicopter down to where the rest of the Fantastic Four stood waiting, they all had seen the Emily succeed in stopping the nuclear missile by the resulting explosion, far enough away that it would not do any harm to the planet below.

At that point, once the chopper was landed, Jacob completely surrendered himself, knowing that, once again, his fun and games had ended. Sue pulled him out of the chopper, annoyed.

"You are in big trouble." she growled at him. "Again."

She pushed him over to Ben, who only too gladly restrained the teenage boy. Sue then marched over to where Reed stood, who was talking quietly with Johnny. As Sue arrived, Johnny flamed on and zipped up into the sky.

Sue didn't have to ask what Johnny was doing. "Think she's alright?" she asked her husband.

"I certainly hope so." Reed replied. "Emily has just saved us all."

As they waited, Jacob's building finally gave way and collapsed, scattering debris everywhere and sending up a large cloud of dust, but otherwise not affecting anything. Reed and Sue coughed on the dust as it passed over them, and maintained their lookout for Johnny or Emily. But as the dust cleared, they saw that they didn't need to.

"Look what I found!" Johnny said jokingly, pointing at Emily, who stood next to him, looking exhausted, but otherwise unharmed.

Reed and Sue heaved sighs of relief.

"Are you all right?" Sue asked Emily.

"Think so." Emily replied. "I was pretty far from the missile when it went up in flames."

"Still, it probably wouldn't hurt to check for any exposure to radiation." Reed said, coming over to Emily, "But I'd doubt it."

By this point, the officials were finally arriving to clean up and get the story of what had happened in full. The next half-hour was done doing just that, all the while Jacob was being restrained and guarded by Ben. Jacob provided no resistence, and looked not very optimistic about his future.

Once it was decided that the officials could take over from here and that the Fantastic Four could all go home, Jacob finally decided to say something.

"I don't suppose I could be let off easy for all of this?" he asked with false hope.

Reed shook his head. "Request denied, Jacob." he said.

* * *

Much later, Jacob sat alone in a cell at the Baxter Building, the first among many various stops for him. He was not looking forward to it. He hated what he had to go through the last time he got in trouble with the Fantastic Four, and that was for far smaller charges. This would be far worse than that. He'll be lucky to not get the death sentence for this.

What maddened him most, though, was the fact that Emily seemed to be getting out of this scotch-free. Reed and the others had already agreed that they weren't going to press charges for what she did when she was teamed up with Jacob, and if anybody else did, the fact that she saved the entire populace of New York from a nuclear missile is going to help her greatly.

She had essentially redeemed herself. And Jacob felt that was unfair. A lot of things seemed unfair. And he wanted to change it.

Outside, he suddenly heard footsteps walking past the cell, and glanced out the cell's window to see who it was.

"Well, lucky me." Jacob muttered to himself.

It was Emily, out of the superhero attire and into PJs. Apparently she was spending the night at the Baxter Building, it seemed. Jacob grinned, an idea coming to him. As Emily walked past, he banged on the door, and shouting, trying to get Emily's attention, which would be hard, because the cell was no doubt sound proof.

But Emily saw anyway, and with a sigh, pressed an intercom button. "What do you want?" she asked wearily, her voice being broadcasted through a set of concealed speakers.

"Out." Jacob replied bluntly.

"Sorry, no can do." Emily said.

"Sure you can." Jacob pressed. "You're at the door's controls."

"Doesn't mean I'm going to use them." Emily also pressed.

"C'mon, Emily." Jacob begged. "Just let me out. You know this is only go badly for me here on out."

"Don't you think you kinda deserve it?" Emily asked. "You tried to kill everybody within three miles, if not more!"

"Only because I didn't have any other choice!" Jacob pressed.

"You could have surrendered." Emily pointed out.

"That wasn't a choice!" Jacob said, then sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done what I did. I see that now. All I want is to get out of here and live life normally."

"Too late for that." Emily remarked, but Jacob saw that his statement did get through to her.

"What do you think they're going to do to me, anyway?" Jacob asked.

"Dunno, but it can't be anything good." Emily replied, with an almost evil grin.

"Exactly!" Jacob said. "And just having that on my conscience is punishment enough for me! Don't you think that's enough?"

Emily looked thoughtful. "Maybe." she admitted.

"And then there's you." Jacob pressed. "Do you really think their not going to punish you, too? I mean, you did some bad things before you turned against me."

"But nowhere near as bad, and I'd say I've pretty much redeemed myself from it." Emily said. "And besides, letting you free wouldn't help me in that regard."

"You could say that I tricked you and knocked you out." Jacob suggested, desperate. "If you play it right, you can still get away unscathed from all of this."

Emily was silent for a moment, looking like she was genuinely thinking about doing it. "I'd better not see your face again." she said.

"You won't." Jacob promised. Okay, a lie, but Emily didn't need to know that.

Emily hesitated a moment longer, then finally unlocked the cell door and opened it. "C'mon." she said reluctantly, "Best way to get out of here would be through the emergency exit in Reed's lab."

They tiptoed silently through the strangely quiet penthouse. Jacob presumed that he and Emily were the only ones still awake. They snuck into Reed's lab, which Jacob noted was running perfectly again. Reed must have finally gotten rid of the computer virus Doom had installed in it for Jacob.

They pressed on, slipping past the power-reversal chamber. Jacob suddenly halted, getting an idea.

"Wait a minute." he said. "What's this doing here?"

"Reed was trying to fix it, to use on us back when we were working together." Emily replied immediately, annoyed. "But he never did fix it, so come on."

She tried to push Jacob onward, but Jacob stayed where he was, his eyes focused on the machine.

"That means it'll enhance powers, not reverse them." Jacob said, grinning.

"Sure, whatever, now out you go." Emily said, still trying to push Jacob onward.

Jacob turned to face her. "Thanks for freeing me, Em." he said politely, then punched Emily, sending her staggering into a table of tools.

Jacob made a mad dash for the machine, stepping into the open chamber.

"Jacob, stop!" he heard Emily yell.

But he wasn't listening anymore, using his techno-kinesis to activate the machine and close the doors. As the machine charged up, he peered through the chamber's little windows to where Emily stood, watching helplessly. Jacob grinned at the sight.

"Too easy." he said as the machine did it's thing.

But when the machine had finished and Jacob staggered out of the machine, his head spinning, he realized it may have really been too easy, for now Emily stood with her arms folded, looking pleased with herself. Joining her was the Fantastic Four in it's entirety, also looking satisfactorily smug.

Jacob panicked, and went to use his techno-kinesis to fight them. Only it didn't work. The power was gone.

Comprehension donned on him. "No!" he exclaimed.

"Nah-nah, you can't use your powers anymore!" Johnny taunted.

Stunned, Jacob pointed at Emily with an accusing finger. "You lied to me!" he accused.

"You lied to me first." Emily pointed out, grinning. "And besides, it wasn't really a lie. That machine _was _still broken. Until about two hours ago when Reed finally fixed it."

"See, we knew you were probably going to try to escape." Reed explained. "And since we knew you would never willingly allow us to remove your powers, we came up with this little scenario to kind of...um...trick you, into removing your powers. Now you're normal Jacob, like everybody else in this world."

"No!" Jacob repeated, panicking even more.

"Take him back to his cell Ben." Reed said, turning to leave. "The police will be here to deal with him once and for all in the morning."

"No!" Jacob said again, as Ben bodily picked him up and carried him back to his cell.

And Jacob kept saying that for the rest of the night, knowing he was truly defeated now.


	21. Permission Granted

Real quick chapter to wrap things up. I end a running gag, Emily states her plans from here, and whatever happened to Doom? ;)

Chapter 21

Permission Granted

After the police had picked up Jacob and was no longer in the Fantastic Four's hands, Emily packed up what little she had brought to New York, and prepared to go home. Her powers aided the process, as she had gained enough control of her telekinesis powers to do one thing while she physically did another.

Once she was all packed, she left the room she had been staying in at the Baxter Building, and wandered over to where the Fantastic Four, in civilian clothes, stood waiting next to the once-again repaired Fantasticar, ready to take her home.

Since Emily still had her powers, and no one had any intention of changing that, it was unanimously agreed that it was time to tell Emily's parents, who had remained unaware of that detail. Reed and the others had agreed to help in the explaining. Emily wasn't looking forward to it, for she had an idea how her parents would react, but this was nullified by the fact that she was now going home.

"Ready Emily?" Sue asked as Emily approached.

"I certainly am." Emily replied, and sighed at the sight of the Fantasticar. "One more chance to get to ride in the Fantasticar I hope?" she asked hopefully.

Reed nodded. "But it's called an FHC." he reminded as they all climbed inside except for Johnny, who was again going to have to fly under his own power.

"Reed, permission to make a request?" Emily asked, settling herself in Johnny seat.

"Permission granted, Emily." Reed replied as he strapped himself in. "Make any request you want, and I'll follow it."

"Good." Emily said. "Stop calling this thing an FHC and start calling it the Fantasticar."

"Okay-wait, what?" Reed said, not entirely catching all of the question.

But he was interrupted by Johnny. "Yes!" he exclaimed, pumping a flaming fist. "Finally, I can start calling this thing what I want!" he tapped the Fantasticar's hull.

Reed slid down in his seat a bit. "I set myself up for that one, didn't I?" he said wearily.

"Yes you did, Reed." Sue replied, patting his shoulder.

"So are we going to go or not?" Ben asked from the back.

"Right." Reed said, starting the Fantasticar and taking flight.

"Fantasticar away!" Johnny cried out as he flamed on and followed, happy that for once, Reed did not correct him.

They cruised over New York City, looking none the worse after the affair with Jacob the previous night. In fact, to Emily, it looked better, with the light glinting off of the skyscrapers in bright flash of light, making the whole city seem to sparkle.

"So, Emily." Sue spoke as they flew. "What are you going to do, now that you have superhuman abilities?"

"I don't know." Emily admitted. "I think I'm going to wait before I really do much of anything with my powers. You know, finish school and all of that fun stuff. Then, who knows? I might be the next superhero to come to power around here."

"Well, whatever you do, we'll help you if you need it." Sue said.

"It's the least we can do, considering you saved all of our necks last night." Reed added.

"Thank you." Emily added, and then leaned back to enjoy the ride, allowing her mind to wander the past events of the last few days.

A thought then suddenly came to her. "Hey," she said, "Whatever happened to Dr. Doom?"

* * *

What happened is that he remained in the helicopter that Jacob had trapped him inside, and allowed the helicopter to fly away on it's own power until it finally ran out of fuel and crashed in the middle of nowhere. Doom, naturally, survived, and was heading to his next destination on foot.

"Way to go me, allowing myself to be outsmarted by a kid." he was mumbling to myself. "It was only the most obvious thing in the world, I _had _to have known it was coming, and I should have prepared to _stop_ him!"

He let out a yell of frustration and zapped a nearby rock in his anger. Then he pressed on, grumbling about his present predicament.

"At least I'm alive." he said, satisfied with that much. "That at least means I can come back and attack my enemies once again. And this time let's see how they fair against me."

He kept walking, realizing just how far he was going to have to go on foot.

"But, I have to get to my destination first." he admitted. "And that's going to take awhile."

He pressed on regardless, knowing that someday, somehow, he would carry out his plans.


End file.
